


Tap Tap

by orphan_account



Series: Tap Tap [1]
Category: Ancient Greek Religion & Lore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-26
Updated: 2020-01-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 06:28:30
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 14
Words: 44,653
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21569173
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: The God of the Underworld has been largely forgotten by modern society, only encountering mortals when they stood before him after death. Until he heard a faint tap, tap on the ground, summoning him to the side of a mortal he never expected.
Relationships: Hades/Persephone (Ancient Greek Religion & Lore)
Series: Tap Tap [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1554463
Comments: 95
Kudos: 265





	1. Broken

**Author's Note:**

> AUTHOR NOTES AND WARNINGS: 
> 
> There are an extremely limited number of archive warnings that AO3 offers us, so please proceed with awareness and caution.
> 
> While it doesn't last beyond the first 8 chapters (this is a long work), Tap Tap begins with strong descriptions of domestic violence. This can be triggering for some readers but will not remain the focus of the focus the story.
> 
> There is also a SUGGESTION of sexual assault in the last paragraph of chapter 8. You can easily skip this paragraph and not miss any of the story if this bothers you, but the sexual assault is not described in detail. 
> 
> THIS IS NOT A FLUFF PIECE. It deals with themes of abuse, trauma, emotional and physical pain and healing, and it details the process of a victim becoming a survivor and finding a way to empower herself. It also details with the complexities of finding trust and love with another after surviving an abusive relationship. 
> 
> Please read with caution, and if you need to GET HELP.

Persephone could smell the liquor on his breath, she knew that if she gave him any reason at all to get upset things would get ugly fast. She stared at the wall behind him, wondering how she got to this place, how she wound up with a man who loved his booze more than her and was never shy about it. She could hear him talking, but it was a dull murmur that barely penetrated her mind, she had gotten so used to his drunken rants that she rarely listened. She simply zoned out and let him talk, waiting for him to finish – hopefully without turning his alcohol induced temper on her. But it quickly became apparent that tonight was not a night that she could simply ignore him until he was done, somehow his temper had focused on her without any sort of provocation. The murmur of his voice grew louder and she was snapped out of her thoughts as he grabbed her by the hair on the back of her head and roughly yanked her towards him.

“Are you even fucking listening to me?” His breath was hot on her face, the sickly sweet smell of whisky and beer threatening her gag reflex as she instinctively tried to pull away from him. He yanked her head back in his direction, “where the fuck do you think you’re going?”

She gripped his forearm in a futile attempt to free herself from his grasp, “Aaron please, you’re hurting me!”

“I wouldn’t have to if you paid attention to a single fucking thing I said.”

She tried again to pull away from him but the sting of her hair being pulled from her scalp kept her close to him, “I – I’m sorry I just –”

His other hand quickly reached out and grabbed her by the throat, squeezing hard enough to cut off her air supply and instantly silence her. “Shut the fuck up when I’m talking to you. Jesus Christ, you’d think that by now you know better than to talk over me.” He stared at her with a cold expression as she wheezed for air, struggling to take a breath deep enough to banish the spots overtaking her vision. He glared at her and put his face close to hers, “You must like me this way because you keep forcing me to do this shit, Persephone. One of these days you’re going to make me kill you, and then what the fuck am I going to do. Don’t you ever stop to think about how I feel when you make me do this shit?” He shoved her away from him by her throat, knocking her off her feet and sending her stumbling over the coffee table. She landed in a heap on the floor between the coffee table and the couch, she didn’t dare move for fear of incurring any more of his wrath. She struggled to catch her breath as she stared at the floor, willing her vision to quickly return so that she could prepare herself for whatever was going to come next. He stood over her, as if daring her to move from where she sat at his feet. “Persephone. What the fuck kind of name is that anyway? No wonder you do this shit, even your fucking name is infuriating.” He shook his head and stumbled away from her, she heard him dragging his shoulder down the wall of the hallway before slamming their bedroom door closed, locking her out while he slept it off.

Persephone thought of the Greek myth, two taps on the ground to summon Hades. She tapped the floor with her finger, lightly, as she comforted herself with thoughts of the old myth of Hades and Persephone. She knew that tapping the floor would do nothing, there was no Hades to come and rescue her, but just for a moment she could escape into the myth in her mind, for a moment she could be whisked away from Aaron and into a new life where she would be respected and loved. She closed her eyes and sighed, it was only a legend, and her name was only Persephone because her mother had a strange fixation with the old Greek myths. She wasn’t queen of the Underworld, she wasn’t the love of the most feared god, she was nothing more than a broken woman with a strange name.

Hades heard the gentle tapping on the ground, it was so faint that for a moment he questioned if he had heard it at all. It had been centuries since he had been summoned; as society had become more advanced, technologies developed, and religion changed among the mortals he had been largely forgotten. He was often overlooked, seen as nothing more than ancient legend until the mortals stood before him, awaiting admittance to the underworld after death. He was so used to silence that, for a brief moment, he was convinced that he was hallucinating the tap-tap on the ground. He only realized he was being summoned when the feeling of being pulled began to wash over him.

Hades followed the pull of the tap-tap, appearing in the dark corner of a young woman’s apartment. He stared at her, unsure of if he should make himself known to her or not. She had obviously not thought that he would really come, she was likely lost in thought and tapped the ground unconsciously, her desperation being what called out to him. Hades hadn’t seen all that had happened, but as a god he simply knew things, so he knew what the young woman had endured tonight. But, even sitting on the floor of her apartment, tears flowing down her face, shoulders shaking with silent sobs as she let her waist length, bubblegum pink hair fall around her face, she was captivating.

Hades elected to stay in the shadows, watching this beautiful creature cry on the floor, slowly letting her broken spirit heal just enough that she could get back on her feet. He could see the events of the night in his mind like watching a reel of film, it played out silently like he was recalling a memory; he could see some drunk asshole shouting at her, grabbing her by her hair, choking her until her eyes glazed over, he could see him throwing her over the table before standing over her threateningly. Hades’ ears pricked up as he saw her mouth moving and realized that she was saying something to herself.

He listened intently for a moment, and then his blood ran cold as he heard her mutter ‘he’s right, what kind of person can a girl named Persephone really be, of course it’s my fault.’ It was the last thing she said before laying down on the floor and closing her eyes, drifting into a sleep that he could see was restless and pained.

Hades waited until he was sure she was completely asleep before stepping out of the shadows. She had said Persephone, like the woman from the myth that all the mortals loved to tell. He had heard the story countless times – the god of the underworld fell in love with a mortal woman and tricked her into staying with him for half of the year, leaving her to come and go from the mortal realm with the seasons. It was a love story that they all knew, the story of Hades and a mortal named Persephone. But it was truly a myth, for he had never fallen in love with a mortal woman, and he had never actually met a woman named Persephone.

Until now.

Hades stood over her, tempted to do exactly as the myth said and whisk her away to the underworld, to safety. But, despite being perhaps the most feared god at one point in mankind’s history, he had never allowed himself to give in to his less than chivalrous instincts. He knelt down beside her and reached an icy hand out to lightly stroke the warm, velvet skin of her cheek. He felt a shock of electricity run from his skin to hers, an undeniable connection that he had only ever seen between a god and a mortal, that he had never felt himself. Hades stood and took a deep breath before retreating back to the shadows and returning to the underworld.

Cerberus lifted a head as Hades reappeared in his living room. He had created a home very similar to those that modern mortals lived in, favoring the spacious, modern designs that had become popular over the last few decades. It was a welcome change from the plaster single room dwellings and log cabins that had dotted the earth for far too long. Hades flopped onto his plush, grey couch as Cerberus laid down at his feet. He had spent centuries listening to the mortals tell his epic love story and he had heard too many versions of the story to count. They ranged from Persephone falling completely in love with him and running away to the underworld to Hades having kidnapped her and forcing her to eat enough pomegranate seeds to chain her to his side for half the year. He had always wondered how the myth had cropped up, and how it had managed to become so prolific. The myths surrounding Zeus and Hera, Poseidon and Ares, the countless other gods that helped govern the mortal realm were all borne of some semblance of reality. To his knowledge there was no other myth that had no basis in any version of the truth.

But then, there she was. Persephone, a lonely, sad mortal woman who had somehow summoned him with the faintest tap of her finger. Hades could still feel the electricity racing through his fingertips, still settled on his skin like a faint tingle just beneath the surface. He looked down at Cerberus and sighed, “What do I do now, boy?” Cerberus pricked two of his six ears up as another one of the heads met his gaze. Hades couldn’t help but wonder, had the mortals been telling a myth for all these centuries, or was it a prophecy?

Persephone woke to the sound of dishes being roughly tossed in the sink. She slowly opened her eyes and realized she was still laying on the living room floor, curled in a ball in the same place that Aaron had left her. She wondered silently if he was still drunk, the sun wasn’t up yet so it couldn’t have been more than a few hours since he had gone to bed. She wasn’t sure of how much alcohol he had drank the night before, making it difficult to determine if she should get up or if she should simply stay where she was and avoid any more of his wrath. Judging by the sounds of him cleaning up his breakfast dishes, she assumed he hadn’t completely sobered up and she elected to simply stay where she was. She was well aware the best way to avoid the lingering drunk anger of the morning after was to simply not call any attention to herself, he was typically rushing to get out the door which didn’t leave him much spare time to continue harassing her.

When she finally heard the door slam shut she gingerly rolled onto her back, her neck and head still sore from the night before. She stared at the ceiling, her mind drifting back to the strange dream she had the night before. It was all very vague, her mind seeming to recall the dream as if it were through a foggy window. She remembered tapping the floor with her fingertips before she fell asleep, thinking back to the myth that she had been named for, and then as she drifted off she was sure that she saw a figure in the dark corner of the room. She tried to remember the details of the dream, tried to remember what the face of Hades looked like in the depths of her mind, but all she could recall was his imposing figure looming over her, kneeling down, and touching her cheek softly. While she couldn’t recall his face with any clarity, she vividly remembered feeling a jolt of what felt like static electricity course through her when his fingertip grazed her cheek. She could almost feel that wave of electricity lingering in her skin, as if he had really been there, as if she had been marked by the god of the underworld as she lay sleeping in a ball on the floor like a beaten dog.

Nausea threatened to overtake her as a wave of shame washed over her, even though it was only a dream Persephone found herself sick to her stomach at the thought of anyone seeing her in such a pathetic state, especially someone so powerful and strong. While she knew that Hades was not a real person, he represented the polar opposite of what Aaron had turned her into, she prayed that she could find some way to fix the situation before someone from the real world actually saw her after one their fights. So far she had been able to hide the dark realities of their relationship. Their friends and family still thought that they were happy, that they had a healthy, normal relationship. Persephone knew that eventually someone would find out, at some point he would slip up and leave a bruise where she couldn’t hide it, and eventually he would lose complete control and likely kill her.

That thought was how Persephone knew that she was completely broken, she was well aware of the fact that Aaron was eventually going to be the death of her – literally – but she was so resigned to her reality that she couldn’t find the strength to do anything to save herself. Her mind wandered back to her dream, she wondered if she truly could summon Hades, if he would help her. In most mythology Hades did not personally judge the dead, rather he supervised their trials, but as the god of the underworld she was sure that he would have some sway over what happened to those most deserving of punishment. She wasn’t the type to wish for rescue, but she couldn’t deny that she couldn’t see a way for her to get out of this alive without help. It certainly would make her life easier if someone would come in and simply banish Aaron to some dark, damp place deep below the surface.

Persephone forced herself to slowly sit up, she hadn’t realized how sore her body was until she started moving. Her head spun as she forced herself upright, the dizziness bringing on another wave of nausea. She stared at the ground until her vision steadied, she focused on her breathing as the spinning room slowly came to a stop. She absentmindedly tapped the floor, a slow tap…tap… as she wished for a doorway to open to a new life. She sighed heavily and shook her head, as if she could shake the lingering thoughts from her mind. She forced herself to stand, her knees dangerously close to giving out beneath her.

Hades appeared in the same corner of her living room, careful to ensure that he was invisible to mortal eyes. She had summoned him again, but he wasn’t sure she was ready to see him, ready to ask him to grant her deepest, darkest wish. He knew that she didn’t even realize that she was calling to him so clearly, so desperately that he could hear even the faintest tap of her fingers on the ground. He watched her struggle to stand, her body sore from being tossed over the table the night before, and he had to fight the urge to reach out and help her as she stumbled down the hallway. He followed her to the bathroom, maintaining a few feet between them despite the knowledge that there was no way she could see him unless he chose to lift the veil between them. He folded his arms over his chest and leaned against the wall across from the bathroom door, he watched her with a raised brow as she inspected the bruises on her neck in the mirror. He wasn’t surprised at how well she covered the bruises with makeup, artfully blending the foundation into her skin in a way that made it clear she had a fair amount of practice in covering the evidence of the abuse that she endured. When she finished with the makeup she stared at herself in the mirror for a long moment before running her hands through her hair, pulling out handfuls of the long pink curls, and Hades realized that her hair was falling out due to stress and trauma. He felt a pain in his chest as he longed to reach out to her again, he could see in her eyes that she felt utterly alone – something he understood all too well – and he found himself fighting the impulse to lift the veil and simply take her in his arms until she felt safe and secure once again. He set his jaw, forcing himself to stand back and simply observe. He would be nearby as long as she summoned him, as long as he could feel her desire for his presence, but he would not reveal himself until he could sense that she was ready. Appearing to her now would only traumatize her further, and the protective instinct that he felt when she was near extended even to protecting her from himself.

Persephone looked out the bathroom door, the hairs on the back of her neck stood as the feeling of being watched crept over her. The apartment was empty, silent except for the sounds of her makeup clicking against the bathroom counter as she covered the marks left by Aaron’s fingers. She knew that she was alone, but something deep within her told her that she wasn’t. She couldn’t explain it, she just knew that somehow, someone was watching her. A heavy sigh escaped from her chest and she told herself that it was simply her paranoia trying to convince her that she wasn’t alone. She had lost everything else, but she couldn’t allow herself to lose her sense of reason.

Her day passed in a blur, the constant dizziness forcing her to call in sick from work so that she could stay close to home. She knew that if Aaron found out it would likely result in a very real beating, but she simply couldn’t function, every few steps left the room spinning around her, disorienting her to the point of feeling lost in her own apartment. Persephone had no idea why, but every time she found herself sitting on the floor, desperately trying to collect herself, she found herself giving in to the irresistible urge to tap the ground. It was as if she had convinced herself that this old myth was true and that if she tapped enough times she could summon Hades himself to rescue her.

If what her mother told her was true, if the myth as she knew it was reality, when he came to her Hades would grant her deepest, darkest wish. Persephone didn’t have to think long to know what wish he would grant – she hoped that one day Aaron would be sent to some place, far below any semblance of civilized society, where he would experience the pain that he inflicted on her. She wasn’t even sure where the urge came from, but she found herself tapping the ground a little harder each time, the force of her desire increasing as the frustration she felt at her own behavior grew. She knew that she was the one choosing to stay in this situation, that she was essentially bringing her misery upon herself. If she really wanted to she could pack a suitcase and disappear right then, while Aaron was at work. She could get a few hours head start so that he wouldn’t know where to find her. But she couldn’t take three steps without the room spinning in circles around her, leaving her trapped in this apartment, waiting for Aaron to come home and hoping that tonight he would be in a good mood.

Hades could feel her desperation like a weight in his chest every time she tapped the ground, not realizing that he was already there with her. He had no idea why her call was so clear to him, like the sound of church bells ringing through the silence of a cold Sunday morning. It had been centuries since Hades had interacted with the living, preferring the cold stillness of the underworld over the loud intensity of the mortal realm. But suddenly he couldn’t seem to bring himself to return to his realm, to leave her. He watched her sit down on the living room floor, unable to walk from one end of the apartment to the other without needing to steady herself, and noticed tears rolling silently down her flushed cheeks. He sighed and stepped closer to her, careful to maintain the veil that hid him from her view, and he reached out and brushed her hair lightly. He couldn’t bring himself to reveal his presence to her yet, but the urge to comfort her was far too powerful for him to continue fighting as he watched her suffer.

Persephone still felt as though she were being watched, she hadn’t been able to shake the feeling all day. But as she wiped the tears from her face she was positive that she felt someone touching her hair, she could feel her long pink curls moving as if someone’s fingers were gently brushing through them. Persephone turned around, sure that she would find someone standing behind her, but saw nothing but her empty apartment. Despite seeing no one, hearing nothing, the feeling of loneliness eased and Persephone felt a a wave of comfort wash over her, for just a moment, before she felt everything return to normal.


	2. Desperate

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains strong depictions of domestic abuse. Please read with caution.

Persephone dumped the chow mein and some broccoli beef onto a plate and pulled a fork out of the drawer before walking the food out to Aaron, sitting at the table. He was on his first beer and seemed to be in a good mood. She set his plate down in front of him and turned to go get her own food, but he caught her by the hand and pulled her back to him. 

“Persephone,” she looked down at him, anxiety clearly flashing over her features. He pulled her down to him and touched his lips to hers in a light kiss. “Thank you.”

She looked at him for a moment, her expression softening as she willed herself to believe that this was the true Aaron, “You’re welcome, Aaron.” He stared at her for a moment, trying to decipher what was going on in her head, but he let her go after rubbing his thumb along the back of her hand for a moment. Persephone got her plate and chopsticks and quickly came back to the table to sit beside him. They ate in silence, Persephone focused on avoiding his gaze so that she wouldn’t have to see the expression on his face as he continued to glance at her. She could tell that he was working up to saying something to her, but she wasn’t sure which direction he was going and she was too scared to give him an invitation to show her. 

Aaron cleared his throat and gently put his hand on her wrist. “Persephone, I – I hope you know that I’m sorry.” She continued to stare at her food but he could see her take a deep breath. “I am sorry for last night, I just hate when you – I mean, I don’t mean to let you get me so angry.” She looked over at him, the intensity of her bright green eyes taking him by surprise. She didn’t say anything, but she didn’t have to. He could tell that his apology was upsetting her, but he didn’t let it stop him from continuing to talk. “Perse, you know I love you. We have to stop doing this to each other. You can’t…you can’t keep making me angry like that and then making me feel bad when I react. I know that I need to learn to react differently but, Perse, we both have to be better.”

She shook her head and spoke softly, unsure of if she had heard him correctly, “I make you feel bad?” Her eyes dropped back to the table, “how do I make you feel bad, Aaron?”

He took a swig of his beer and leaned back in his chair, “You get me all angry and worked up and then you sit and cry and lay on the floor all dammed night. You make me do this shit and then you act so pitiful that I end up feeling bad when it’s not my fault, Persephone.” He ran his hand down his face, tugging at the end of his beard before taking another drink. “Look, I’m sorry, okay? Can we just be done with this shit and agree not to do all of this shit anymore?”

She nodded and stared down at her lap, her appetite had disappeared as she listened to him apologize – if that’s truly what it could have been called. She knew that if she didn’t say something that there would be no avoiding another night of abuse. A part of her knew that his temper had nothing to do with her, that he would find some reason to be angry – to take his anger out on her – regardless of what she did. But she certainly didn’t want to hurry him along, to actually be the cause of it. She took a deep breath and steeled herself to look at him, “Okay, Aaron. We’ll be done with it all.” 

She stood to take their plates to the kitchen, his cleared and hers almost untouched. Somehow he had eaten a full meal despite the night before, despite their conversation. Persephone was the only one who felt sick to her stomach by everything going on. “Bring me another beer.” She stared at him for a moment, unsurprised but somehow unable to believe that he truly had beer on his mind immediately after trying to apologize. She nodded and walked to the kitchen, trying to force herself to just not feel anything about the conversation they had just had. She pulled a fresh bottle of beer out of the fridge and opened it, she took a deep breath and walked back to him to set the bottle on the table and pick up the now empty one. She looked at him for a moment, trying to decide if she wanted to say something to him about how that entire ‘apology’ had made her feel, but his refusal to even look up at her told her that it was probably a better idea not to. 

In the end, Persephone’s silence didn’t matter. As Aaron drank more and more throughout the night his mood turned sour and, eventually, he was the same angry jerk that he had been the night before. All it had taken was the annoyed sound she made as she collected empty beer bottles that he had left scattered throughout the living room and dining room to set him off. 

Aaron went to bed after leaving her with bruises on her upper arms and wrists from how hard he had grabbed her, a split lip from slapping her across the face, and a black eye from the moment he had truly lost control and raised his fist to her. The feeling of loneliness washed over Persephone again and she thought back to that moment earlier in the afternoon that she had felt just a small bit of comfort. She tapped the floor again with her fingers as she stared at the fibers of the carpet, praying for just a moment of that same feeling to return as she desperately tried to stop the tears that were freely falling down her cheeks. 

Hades heard the tapping and felt the pull on his soul, he knew that it was her again and a feeling of dread washed over him as he wondered how bad the damage was. He knew that if she was tapping on the floor it meant that, at the very least, she would be crying again, if not battered and bruised. He closed his eyes and willed himself to travel along the line of the veil so that he could see her, not bothering to change from his casual jeans and v neck sweater before appearing in her apartment yet again. Typically he would wear his formal suit and tie if he were to be around mortals, he felt it was important to present himself with an image that radiated power and self confidence if there was even a chance he would be seen, despite being largely forgotten until the moment of death he still felt that his image was important to uphold. But he didn’t want to waste the time when he felt her need for him pulling him to her world, and he was sure that he wouldn’t be appearing to her yet anyway. 

He found her sitting on the floor by the sliding glass door, staring at the view from her third story apartment as tears flowed freely down her beautiful face. He could see the dark purple marks on her arms, bruises deep enough that they were already prominent against her porcelain skin, and he slowly walked to the side of the room so that he could see her face. His eyes turned red as his gaze fell on the black eye, his rage threatening to overtake him as he watched her wipe the blood from the split bottom lip that was already swelling with the trauma. His chest tightened as he fought the urge to appear before her boyfriend and choke the life out of him, but something in him quietly insisted that he stay by her side. Even if she couldn’t see him, couldn’t hear him, he wouldn’t leave her alone. She wasn’t tapping the floor because she wanted her boyfriend dead or because she wanted freedom; she was tapping the ground because she wanted to feel as if she wasn’t quite so alone in the world. He reached out and gently caressed her cheek with the back of his forefinger, wishing that he felt it was time to show himself. He was already so drawn to this woman, so invested in her that he was unsure of how to proceed. It killed him to see her suffer this way, but he wasn’t sure that being visited by the god of death would bring her any comfort at all. 

Persephone’s eyes widened as she felt the unmistakable touch of a gentle finger on her cheek. She didn’t bother to look around, she knew she was alone. But somehow she knew that despite there being no one in the room with her, she wasn’t actually alone. Her skin tingled with the lingering sensation, as if whatever had reached out and touched had some ethereal presence that left her nerves buzzing long after the touch was finished. She sighed and brought her hand to her cheek, lightly cupping the area that was so filled with sensation, and the tingling moved to her fingers – as if she were brushing the fingertips of a hand caressing her face. 

Hades held his hand still, in awe of how she had somehow known exactly where to put her hand so that their skin made contact through the veil that he hid behind. He could feel the sensation coursing through his fingertips as their spirits made contact. He had never been more tempted to cross completely into her realm, to take her in his arms and simply hold her until she realized that she could be loved rather than constantly hurt, but the nagging fear of her rejection haunted him. Even if he did show himself, how could an angel like Persephone, this perfect woman who could eclipse Apollo himself want anything to do with him? Mortals were shocked enough at his appearance – his pale blue skin serving as a reminder of the deathly pallor that settled over the faces of corpses, his shimmering aura resonating with a fearsome energy that seemed to stop even the strongest of souls in their tracks, his eyes alternating between a hollow blue and a fierce, blood red depending on his own emotions. He resembled the mortals only in the faintest form, at over seven feet tall he towered over every mortal he came across, his body built with wide shoulders and strong, well toned muscles that never seemed to fade despite his refusal to put any effort into them. He truly reminded any mortal that came across his path of their inferiority to the gods, only rivaled in his intimidating appearance by Zeus himself. And Persephone, being especially tiny compared to most mortals, would surely recoil from him in horror. Hades knew that her refusal would hurt him more than centuries of being forgotten, discarded, and he wasn’t ready to burst the little bubble of affection that had formed within him.

He watched the expression on her face as rain began to drip down the glass, the pale blue light of the night sky illuminating her skin in a ghostly shine that made him want her all the more. The rain became heavy quickly as the storm rolled over them, the deep rolling thunder seemed to match the emotions that were coursing through Persephone. She had always found a strange sense of comfort in the storms, as if the rain came with the fiercest of her sadness and anger. Persephone laid on the ground in front of the widow, stretching out on her back as she tried to ease the soreness from her muscles. She closed her eyes as she felt the thunder in her chest, the low rumbling shaking her deep in her core. It was the same as any other night for her, ending with pain and fear, but somehow the loneliness was lifted as Persephone had the distinct feeling that someone was with her. She half heartedly told herself that she was in the final stages of madness, convincing herself that some friendly spirit was nearby, that she wasn’t suffering alone. But the rational side of her told her that this was simply her mind trying to give her the comfort that she so desperately needed, comfort that no one else was able to give as long as she was here, in this apartment, with Aaron. She could feel her body become heavy with a mental and emotional exhaustion that she was having more and more difficulty fighting off as time went on. Persephone gave in to the desire to sleep as she laid there, taking small comfort in the sound of the rain on the glass as a storm raged against the window, the echo of the thunder through her seemingly hollow chest, and the nagging feeling in the back of her mind that she wasn’t alone anymore. She tapped her finger on the ground again as she drifted off, willing the myth to be true with every bit of hope left in her body as she finally drifted into the darkness of sleep. 

Hades waited until he was sure she was asleep before he stepped out of the veil between them and knelt down beside Persephone. His eyes shone bright, appearing to hold the night sky itself as he willed her into a slumber deep enough to be sure she wouldn’t wake. He lifted her into his arms and cradled her for a moment, focusing his gaze on the peace that washed over her beautiful features as she slept, memorizing her face without the pain and worry etched into its lines. He slowly moved to her couch, sitting down gently before lowering her down so that she was laying across his lap, her head propped against his chest as she breathed slowly in the deepened sleep. His eyes slowly returned to their natural pale blue as he found the tension in his chest ease. Seeing her sleep peacefully made it easier for him to relax and simply enjoy being in her presence, it was easier to see how incredibly beautiful she was when he was able to look past the tears and the bruises and simply look at her. 

She inhaled deeply and he could see her features twitch as she responded to whatever she was dreaming about. He watched her closely, gently brushing her hair from her forehead and letting the pink tendrils tangle around his fingers. He could see the fear flit across her sleeping features as it became clear that she was having a nightmare, Hades ran his fingers along her jawline with a featherlight touch in an effort to sooth her without waking her from her much needed sleep. For a moment his gentle touch seemed to work, but as he stared down at her he could see the growing intensity of her dream and the effects it had on her unconscious body. Hades’ stomach twisted into a knot as he felt her muscles twitch, as if reacting to some physical trauma in her dream. Persephone mumbled quietly, her words indecipherable as she talked unconsciously, and Hades could tell that her dream was intensifying. He watched her, wondering what he could possibly do to comfort her, questioning if he should simply wake her from the dream and reveal himself to save her from even this one moment of pain. 

But Hades didn’t get the chance to decide as Persephone cried out and sat upright on the couch. In a moment of panic Hades quickly disappeared behind the veil, leaving her panting and breathless on the couch. Persephone tried desperately to catch her breath, the nightmare still vividly replaying in her memories as she tried to get a grip on herself. She looked around frantically, she had been sure that someone had been there with her. She could feel her body laying against someone else’s, she could feel the rock hard body of a giant man holding her, cradling her in a dreamlike state. She could still feel the cool touch of his fingers along her hairline, could still feel the light tug on her hair as he played with the long curls that fell along her face. There was no doubt in her mind anymore, she was sure that she wasn’t slipping into madness, that she wasn’t imagining some way out of her reality. She was sure that she wasn’t alone, even if her eyes couldn’t see whoever was there with her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal. 
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.


	3. Calm

Persephone felt Aaron kiss her forehead and she rolled over in bed. She opened her eyes to see him buttoning his work shirt and she glanced at the clock by the bed. It was three AM, far too early for normal work. She sat up slowly and frowned at him. “You’re going to work?”

Aaron didn’t even look at her as he answered, “Yeah, one of the apartments on level five is having an issue with their heat. I’ll be back when I’m done, if you go to work before then I’ll just see you tonight.” He didn’t wait for her to answer before he left. 

Persephone laid back down and pulled the covers up over her shoulder. He never got called in so early, and even if he did it wouldn’t keep him out until after she left. She knew he was likely going to meet up with another woman, but she didn’t bother to worry herself about it. The night had actually been peaceful, it didn’t end in fighting and hitting, and Persephone wasn’t going to ruin it with something that she didn’t truly care about. She heard the front door of the apartment close and his key turn the latch so that it was locked behind him, so she pulled the blanket up over her shoulders and allowed herself to drift back to sleep. 

Persephone hit the button to silence her alarm clock. 7 AM had come way too soon and she was not mentally prepared for the day. She stretched her arms above her head and gingerly twisted her body in the bed, trying to stretch without causing any added pain to the sore spots on her body. The room was quiet, empty, even that odd feeling of there being some hidden companion was gone and Persephone silently wondered if it had just been a figment of her desperate imagination. She got out of the bed slowly, moving timidly as her body reminded her of the last few fits of rage that Aaron had turned on her. She sighed as she opened her closet, the prim and proper office attire never failed to depress her, reminding her of how boring her life truly was. She had a good job, and she was good at what she did. She had the right type of personality for a personal assistant, she was detailed and prepared, always ahead of her boss by at least a few steps, but she was quiet and submissive enough that she could simply do as she was told and not protest when she didn’t agree. She worked for the CEO of a mid sized tech company, her boss was self made and grounded, down to earth despite his success. And, of course, Persephone appreciated that he genuinely cared about her, always reminding her to eat at lunch and constantly asking if she was getting enough sleep. It was a good job, comfortable and secure. It simply wasn’t what she had envisioned for herself when she was younger. 

Persephone wasn’t sure what she would have wanted for her life if she could choose something else, but she knew that she had always wanted a life that felt carefree and simple. She had never envisioned herself living like this, locked in a routine of going to the office and then going home, not even brave enough to go grocery shopping without her boyfriend for fear of his irrational and unrelenting anger. In her younger years, when she was still filled with optimism and blind faith that her life would simply fall into the place that she wanted, she had been convinced that she would make her way into the art world. She had loved to paint, her first apartment had a painting studio rather than a bedroom and she slept on a futon in the living room, but Aaron had convinced her that she needed a more adult job to help sustain the two of them. So, when he had finally wooed her into moving in with him, she had packed up her art studio and it sat, untouched in a stack of boxes, in the hall closet.

Persephone buttoned her grey dress shirt and tucked it into her black pencil skirt as she stepped into her black high heels. She slipped the feminine, thin black tie around her neck and tied it with quick, nimble fingers that hardly needed her thoughts to guide them. She trailed her fingers along the dresser as she walked to the bathroom, tempted to tap softly on the wood. She fought the urge, recognizing something a bit obsessive about her new ritual, telling herself that she need to seek comfort in the real world rather than in daydreams about an ancient god that couldn’t possibly be real. She stepped in front of the mirror and deftly put on her makeup, covering the remnants of her bruised skin before applying her dark burgundy lipstick and swiping on the deep black wings of her eyeliner. She tousled her curls, making a mental note that the pastel hues were beginning to show signs of needing to be dyed again. 

She stared at herself in the mirror, contemplating the circles under her eyes that she couldn’t quite cover and sighed. She knew her boss, Mr. Tim Larkin, was going to question how much sleep she had gotten, he was incredibly perceptive and never missed an opportunity to tell her when her makeup couldn’t quite cover her exhaustion. She swiped a final layer of mascara over her already long lashes and headed for the front door. She grabbed her purse and keys and looked to the kitchen for a moment before decided that she didn’t have enough of an appetite to justify making a mess she didn’t have time to clean up. She looked around the apartment, her stomach fluttered as if she were stepping out of a prison cell, before heading out the door. 

Persephone looked up to see Aaron walking down the hall towards their apartment. His shirt was disheveled and his hair looked as though someone’s fingers had been running through it but she elected not to comment on his appearance. A part of her was so tired, so completely broken, that she couldn’t bring herself to care what he was doing and who he was doing it with. She was just thankful that he seemed to be in a good mood as he approached her. She gave him a small smile as she looked at him with her head tilted slightly to the side. 

“Mornin’ babe, off to work?”

Persephone nodded, “ Yes, I’ll be back in time for dinner but I have a full day today.”

Aaron nodded at her and shoved his hands into his pockets, she recognized it as a tell tale sign that he was about to lie to her but she waited patiently for him to speak. “Well,” he paused as his gaze met hers, guilt clearly glimmering in his honey brown eyes, “I’m going to try to catch some sleep before I get called in again, last night kicked my ass.”

She nodded and gave him a light peck on the cheek before moving past him, “I’ll see you later.”

Aaron turned to watch her walk away before raising his voice pointedly. “I love you.”

Persephone stopped and turned to him, a chill ran up her spine as she heard the familiar annoyance in his voice. She flashed him a smile, fake but convincing enough, “I love you too, get some rest.” She turned and quickly disappeared down the hall, the click of her heels the only thing penetrating the deafening silence around her. She got downstairs and to her car and quickly turned the key in the ignition, she turned the radio up – loud – and gripped the steering wheel tightly with both hands as she fought to maintain her composure. Tears threatened to spill down her cheeks as she replayed his goodbye in her mind – she knew, after hearing that tone, that he would spend the day sleeping and drinking, which meant she would come home to an argument, inevitably leading to another physical confrontation. Persephone didn’t know how much more she could take, but she knew that he was getting more and more unpredictable. It didn’t matter how careful or submissive she was anymore, he simply didn’t like her and wasn’t afraid to show it. And once he added alcohol to the mix, once he lowered his inhibitions just enough for the tight thread of control to unravel even a little bit, his disdain for her was always displayed with same brutish behavior. Persephone knew that her time with Aaron was quickly heading towards it’s close – either she would have to find a way out, or he was going to kill her. She swallowed the anxiety bubbling in her chest and backed her car out of her spot and headed to work, praying that it was busy enough to distract her from the impending conflict that would be waiting for her at the end of the night.

Hades sighed and looked over at the pretty red nymph laying beside him. Minthe had shown up unannounced the night before, and he had been tempted to turn her away. He wasn’t sure when Persephone would summon him again, and he would be damned if he missed her call because he was waist deep in Minthe. But Minthe had convinced hint to let her stay and Persephone never called. His relationship with Minthe had never been deep or committed, they simply took what they needed from one another and went on with their lives afterwards. She was using him as much as he used her, and Hades was fairly sure that feeling used was part of what Minthe enjoyed so much about their encounters. 

He thought back to the night before, to his lips on Minthe’s vibrant red skin, her legs clutching at his waist, her nails digging into his shoulder blades as passion loomed between the two of them. He may have been a god, he may have been responsible for the entire underworld, he may have survived every advancement of mankind and thrived in his self imposed solitude…but he still had the same needs as mortal men. He still had desires, physical needs that matched those of the mortals. Hades couldn’t bring himself to impose those desires on the innocent mortals, the behavior he had seen his brother indulge in for almost their entire existence disgusted and disappointed him and he refused to cause that kind of harm, he refused to cause the chaos that seemed to follow his brothers exploits. He had found a good partner in Minthe, they shared the same level of commitment to one another (in essence, none), she was smart enough that he could talk with her when the desire struck him, and she never questioned his inner turmoil. She never commented on the tears that slipped down his face, or the breaks in his chiseled appearance when the stress became especially difficult to bear, and she never commented on his choice to hide in the underworld rather than roam the realms freely. 

He rolled onto his side and gently placed a hand on the small of her back, gently waking her from her peaceful sleep. She made a small, contented sound as she stretched under his hand and rolled towards him. Hades couldn’t help but let his gaze drift down to her bare chest, her slender waistline, the curve of her hip before the dark sheets covered the rest of her body. “I’m sorry to wake you, it’s getting late.”

She traced his muscled chest with her index finger, carefully avoiding the dark grey scars that marred his otherwise smooth skin. Everyone avoided his scars, they didn’t even look at them, as if his past were too painful for any of them to bear. “We could go for round two,” she purred with a low, sultry tone. 

Hades leaned over and gave her a brief kiss and a smile before getting out of the bed. “Not this morning, Minthe. I know you have work to do, and I’m sure I have plenty of things that I need to do as well.”

She rolled her eyes at him and sat up, “You’re God of the Underworld, surely you can break the rules just once. After all, who would punish us.”

He gave her a weary look and shook his head. This was the only downfall to Minthe, to all nymphs, responsibilities just didn’t weigh as heavily on them as they did on the Gods. “Perhaps next time, I truly can’t today.”

She let an annoyed sigh escape her lips as she slid out of the bed. She pulled her black dress over her body, reminding him that she had shown up without undergarments, and quickly stepped into her relentlessly high heels. She ran a hand through her sleek, black hair and turned to Hades. She gave him a small, almost apologetic smile as she looked at him standing in dark jeans and a black v neck t shirt that hugged his chiseled frame. “You look good, Your Majesty, it seems some of the mortals fashion is finally making it’s way into your wardrobe. Perhaps your trips to their realm are rubbing off on you?”

Hades narrowed his eyes at her, “how do you know I’ve been spending time in the mortal realm?”

Minthe cocked her head to the side and gave him a sly smile, “I’ve tried to come see you a few times this week. You haven’t been at home, haven’t been at work, and no one has seen you at your usual haunts. That truly only leaves one place. I have to wonder what it is that’s got you up there so much lately.”

Hades brought himself up to his full height, squaring his shoulders as he crossed his arms across his chest. He was feeling surprisingly defensive, his thoughts immediately going back to Persephone, knowing that he didn’t want Minthe to know anything about her just yet. They weren’t in any sort of a committed relationship, but he had seen her jealousy, her vindictive nature, and he didn’t doubt that Minthe would find a way to torment the mortal that had stolen Hades attention. “I think,” Hades’ voice turned hard, his shift in mood bringing a coldness into the room that settled over them like a heavy fog, “that my comings and goings are none of your concern.”

Her smirk disappeared as she gazed at him, seeing the shift in his eyes as his temper flared, “Hades, you know that I do have some feelings for you, of course I would care when you’re suddenly doing something so out of character and –”

He held a hand up to silence her, “For decades I have offered you more than what we are now, Minthe. For decades I have asked if you wished to be my queen. And for decades you have refused. You have no say in what I do or where, it is not your concern and I will not have you commenting on it.” His eyes were almost black, the darkness of the underworld captured in his glowing irises. Minthe stood still, unable to move as she looked at him in a combination of awe and fear, her thoughts racing as she tried to figure out how to excuse herself before his anger bubbled over. His voice resonated through the chill of the room, “Am I clear?”

Minthe nodded and collected herself before silently retreating, leaving Hades alone in his room. Hades sighed and forced his emotions back under control as he sat down on the bed and resting his head in his hands. It hadn’t been Minthe’s place to comment on his whereabouts, but it certainly didn’t warrant that reaction. He wasn’t sure why, but the thought of Minthe knowing he had been visiting the mortal realm stirred a slight panic in his chest, his urge to protect Persephone obviously spilling over into his time in his own realm. 

His thoughts wandered back to Persephone, her fragile beauty burned into his mind like a work of art to be treasured. She hadn’t summoned him the night before, he hadn’t felt her desperation at all. There was a moment, long after he and Minthe had fallen asleep, when he was stirred by an aching feeling of longing and loneliness in his chest, but he wasn’t sure that the feeling came from her. Hades didn’t feel her in his realm, so he knew that she wasn’t dead, which left him to believe that she and Aaron had obviously had a good night. No fighting, no beatings, no tears. While he was relieved by the thought, obviously happy that he didn’t feel her suffering, a small part of him wished that she had felt something to make her need him again. 

He furrowed his brow as he tried to decipher what exactly was going on in his brain. The obvious answer was that he missed her, but could he really miss someone that he had never even spoke to, someone that he had simply watched from behind a veil in a few moments of desperation? Could he really feel anything for a mortal who didn’t even believe he was real? 

Hades stood in a flash and, before he could stop himself, put his fist through the wall beside the bed. He had no idea why he felt so angry, why he felt hopeless and abandoned. But he couldn’t stop himself from unleashing the burst of fury that rose within him as he acknowledged the fact that he wanted her to summon him again, and it was killing him to not know why she hadn’t. Hades stared at the deep hole in the wall, his breath coming in short bursts that left a cold ache in his chest. He closed his eyes as he forced himself to take a deep breath, he reigned in his emotions and unclenched his fists as he willed himself to return to the calm, collected image that he had spent so much time painstakingly refining. 

Black mist seeped from the wall as he willed it to repair itself, he knew he couldn’t simply leave a reminder of his outburst beside the bed. He ran his hands through his hair, desperately trying to think of anything he could do to distract himself from the pretty little mortal who had caught his attention so quickly. Finally, Hades stood and clenched and unclenched his fists a few times, trying to release some of the tension that gripped him.

He quickly stripped out of his jeans and slipped on a pair of grey sweats before briskly walking to his personal gym. Hades slipped on a pair of knuckle protectors as he stood in front of his punching bag. He wrapped the cloth around his wrists tightly, ensuring that they wouldn’t slip with the force of his knuckles against the vinyl bag. He steadied his stance for a moment before unleashing the full fury of his emotions on the bag, the sound of his fists meeting the heavy workout equipment with resounding cracks that penetrated the stillness of the room. Hades eyes turned black, dotted with flecks of red brought on by his pent up frustration and the anger that Minthe had left behind. A metallic taste settled in his mouth as he beat the bag relentlessly, his vision glazed with the exertion but he pushed through, determined to leave behind every trace of emotion. As a god, Hades had a seemingly endless well of energy that flowed from deep within him, he had no idea how much time had passed before his arms finally grew tired. But when he finally dropped his fists Hades was surprised to find his forehead and shirt soaked with sweat, he pulled the knuckle protectors off to find ichor trickling from his knuckles, long trails of the gold fluid trailing down the pronounced veins of his forearms. 

Hades threw the knuckle protectors to the floor, the force leaving small craters from the impact. He sat down, resting his elbows on his knees as he felt the exhaustion hit him. He still couldn’t help but think of Persephone, but his anger was significantly reduced and he didn’t feel quite so murderous. The thought crossed his mind that perhaps it was time to cut things off with Minthe, every visit ended with him reminded her of her place lately and it did nothing to help his foul moods. And, if he were being honest with himself, it wasn’t fair to Minthe if all he could think of was Persephone. He had never been the type to use one woman as a distraction from another. Hades knew that he needed to address whatever this was with the mortal woman, or else she would continue to haunt him until it drove him mad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal. 
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.


	4. Fury

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains strong depictions of domestic abuse. Please read with caution.

Hades sat in his plush leather chair, reclining behind the granite desk that sat littered with paperwork in front of him. His job was simply to oversee the judgment of the shades as they entered the Underworld, he was there to ensure that nothing went wrong and to mark each judgment with his royal seal. One by one they came into his office, a never ending line of souls awaiting judgment after lives filled with all of the mortal indulgences that must have seemed important while they were still living. It was tedious and boring, after having done this for so long it took a lot to even catch his interest, and surprises almost never happened. 

Hades glanced up as another shade entered the office, he caught a glimpse of pink curly hair as the door swung shut and his thoughts immediately went to Persephone. She hadn’t called for him, not even the faintest of tapping to alert him to her existence. He shook his head, banishing the thought from his mind. The pink he had seen wasn’t the same bubblegum pink of her hair, it was darker and he thought he saw streaks of red in it. He was simply being obsessive, worrying too much about this mortal woman who didn’t even know he existed. Hades tried to force himself to focus on the shade that was in his office, explaining his life and death to the judge, but his eyes kept going back to the door. His thoughts kept wandering to the anxiety building in his chest as he waited for the door to open again, silently praying that it was just another random shade who happened to have pink hair waiting on the other side of the door. 

Hades looked to the door again as the next shade entered, but he couldn’t see the pink hair anymore. He watched intently as the shade walked in, craning his neck for any glimpse of pink hair, but the door closed too quickly for him to get a good view past the shade coming before them. Hades looked at the shade with clear disdain, annoyed by the blue skin that already told him that the shade had drowned, annoyed by the shades momentary confusion as he was asked to share details about his death, annoyed by the judge’s thorough questioning that only prolonged the door opening again. 

Finally the shade received his judgment and the door opened again. Hades’ eyes snapped to the door and his heart sunk to the bottom of his stomach as he watched Persephone walk through the door. He was shocked at her appearance; her pink hair was streaked with blood, her pale skin bruised and broken as some of the swelling on her face had forced the skin apart, blood streaked down her cheek and over one of her eyes. The glittering green hue that he usually saw in her eyes was gone, replaced by the silvery shadow of death that glazed over her irises. He watched as she walked past him, unaware that he knew her, and he clenched his fist as he saw what was clearly a large wound to her back – likely from being stabbed after being beaten. Hades could hear his heart beat in his ears, he couldn’t hear her talk over the pulsing of his own ichor overtaking his hearing. But he didn’t need to hear her recount the harrowing details of her own death, he knew what had happened. 

Hades sat straight up in his bed, a layer of sweat clinging to his body and soaking through his sheets. His breath came in sharp pants, his heart raced as panic washed over him. He desperately tried to calm his thoughts, reminding himself that it was only a nightmare, that Persephone had never walked into his office to be judged. He ran a cold hand down his face and forced himself to take a deep ragged breath, repeating the mantra in his head, over and over again, it was only a dream. He turned his focus to stopping the trembling of his hands, desperately trying to ground himself in a bid to quell the fear and anxiety that were battling to overtake him. He wanted to see her, he needed to see her. He needed to know that she was okay, that she wasn’t laying on the floor dying somewhere. He needed to reassure himself that it was only a dream, not a premonition. 

...

Persephone gently pushed Aaron away from her, turning her face away so that his lips couldn’t find hers. “Aaron, stop. I’m really not in the mood.”

He wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back against him and continued pressing kisses to her neck, ignoring her protests. “But you look so sexy tonight.” Persephone tried to break free from his grasp but he held on tighter and spoke quietly against her ear, “Come on baby, I’m in the mood and it’ll take ten minutes.”

Persephone had finally had enough of his pushy behavior and something within her changed. She shoved his hands away from her and spun to face him. Caution gone, she spoke with no concern for the inevitable wrath that she was about to unleash, she pointed a finger in his face and her tone turned venomous. “If you’re so in the mood to get laid, why don’t you go crawl into whatever bed you left for at three AM.”

Clearly taken aback by her sudden change in demeanor, he blinked for a moment and then swatted her hand out of his face. “I told you, I had to go fix a heater last night.” It had been a long time since Persephone had talked to him that way, since she had fought him at all. He knew she was capable of reacting to him out of anger, but after nearly a year of her simply trying to make herself small enough that he wouldn’t notice her, her biting attitude took him by surprise for a moment. His shock faded as he watched her square her shoulders and glare for a moment. 

She rolled her eyes and set her hands on her hips, “Aaron, I am not stupid. I know you’ve been sleeping with someone else, probably more than one. At least be enough of a man to own it, don’t insult my intelligence.”

He took a step towards her but she didn’t back away. The voice in her head told her to retreat, to apologize before it got any worse, but she wasn’t in control anymore. Something in her had snapped. “Are you trying to piss me off, Persephone?”

Her voice was low, clearly challenging him. “And what if I am? What are you going to do about it, Aaron?”

He took another step towards her, the gap between them closing as he stared at her with his jaw clenched, a menacing glare flickering over his eyes. “I’d stop now, before you push me to the point of not being able to stop myself, Persephone. I’m giving you a chance to stop now, stop acting like a stupid cunt and take the out.” She swallowed and shook her head, telling herself that he wasn’t worth the anger, and she turned to walk away from him. “That’s right, do as your told like a good little bitch.”

Persephone whirled back to face him, the quiet voice of reason within her drowned out by an overwhelming fury that she had never felt before. Her voice was surprisingly strong as she shouted at him, “Do not, ever, talk to me like that again. I am so sick of you thinking it’s okay to be such a prick –” 

His open hand struck her across her cheek before she could finish, the force knocking her to the floor at his feet. He grabbed her by her chin, forcing her eyes to meet his, “I fucking told you to stop.”

She shoved Aaron’s hand away from her face, the taste of blood in her mouth only serving to revive the fury that had subsided with the shock of the blow. “I was not kidding, Aaron, and I am not –” she slammed her fist into the floor, “– going to let you keep treating me like this when I have done nothing –” her fist hit the floor again to punctuate the word “– to deserve this shit from you.” Persephone felt that familiar feeling of being watched again almost immediately, something that she could only describe as instinct telling her that they weren’t the only ones in the apartment all of the sudden. She blinked as she thought she saw the outline of a man, impossibly tall and imposing, hovering behind Aaron for a split second, but when she opened her eyes again it was gone. 

She didn’t have time to think about what she thought she had seen as Aaron grabbed her by her hair and yanked her to her feet. Her hands moved to his, trying to loosen his grip, but he pulled her face close to his and gripped her by the cheeks. She clenched her jaw and stared back at him, no hint of fear or anxiety in her eyes. They stared at one another, a silent battle of wills as both waited for the other to act. Finally, Persephone yanked her face from his grip, she was sure that his nails would leave marks along her cheeks where he tried to tighten his fingers to keep her in his grasp. “Do. Not. Touch. Me.”

Aaron smirked at her and pulled her closer by her hair, holding her face inches from his, and raised a finger to caress her cheek. She slapped his hand away but he didn’t let her go, “Or what, Persephone?”

She could hear the challenge in his voice, he had no reason to take her seriously after years of allowing him to abuse her however he wished. But Persephone couldn’t seem to suppress the rage building inside her, growing to impossible depths that seemed to drown out any rational thought that she may have had. She took a deep breath to steady herself and slapped Aaron across the face, the resounding sound of the impact echoing in the apartment. Before he could react she pulled his hand from her hair and shoved him backward, knocking him off his feet as he stumbled over one of the chairs behind him. Persephone could see the shock wash over his face and quickly morph into blind rage. He struggled to get to his feet, the whiskey that he had enjoyed with dinner giving her an advantage, and Persephone backed a few steps away. She knew she should run, she should get out of the apartment while she had the chance, but something in her had snapped and she felt an uncontrollable desire to stand her ground. 

She laughed at him, clearly mocking him as he used a chair to pull himself up. “I could help you up, if you need it.”

“You’re going to pay for that, I swear to god, Persephone.”

She lifted her chin, a clear display of prideful disobedience and spoke calmly, “You’ll have to get to your feet and come get me first, Aaron. You should cool it with the drinking, don’t you think?”

Persephone wasn’t prepared for the force with which he threw himself at her, climbing on top of her chest as he pinned her to the ground. She tried desperately to shove him off balance so that she could get out from under him, fully aware that he had her at a distinct disadvantage, but he was too heavy for her to move. Her breathing was shallow and labored as he sat his full weight on her chest, making her head spin as she struggled beneath him. He grabbed her wrists, painfully squeezing them in one of his hands as he held them away from his face. “I fucking told you not to pull this shit with me tonight,” he used his free hand to grab her face and force her to look at him, fully aware that it would only piss her off more. He shoved her face to the side as he let go of her, “You really fucking think that it’s smart to piss me off?” She refused to look back at him, her mind racing as she tried to decide how could get one last blow in before the inevitable happened. “You’re not going to fucking answer me now? You can only run your mouth when you think you can get away from me, right?” She looked at him, her jaw set and eyes glittering with fury that he hadn’t seen before. He put a hand on her throat and lifted her slightly before slamming her head into the floor, “Answer me, you fucking bitch!”

Persephone looked him dead in the eyes and spit in his face, knowing that she had just crossed a line that she couldn’t come back from but pleased at the shock and anger that contorted his features. He cracked her head against the ground again and her hands flew to his wrists, attempting to dig her nails into his skin, but unable to stop him from repeatedly bashing her head on the floor. Darkness quickly overtook her vision, his face blurring as she slipped into unconsciousness. 

...

Hades stood over Persephone, sprawled unconscious on the dining room floor. He clenched his jaw in an effort to keep control of his anger as he heard Aaron slam the door on his way out, leaving her there alone. His eyes moved from her face, from the bruise forming on her cheek where he had hit her, down to her chest as he looked to make sure that she was still breathing regularly. He watched her chest rise and fall for a moment, the oversized grey sweater making it difficult for him for him to see exactly how deeply she was inhaling. He knelt down beside her and reached out to gently feel her pulse. He let the veil drop between them, allowing his fingers to feel her skin with no magic between the two of them. He couldn’t help but notice how soft her skin was, the warmth spreading across his cold fingers the way he imagined the sun felt for mortals. Her pulse was slow but steady, assuring him that she wasn’t dying as she laid there. He breathed a sigh of relief and wiped a tear that threatened to slip from the corner of his eye. 

He rested his hand on her cheek and closed his eyes, it had been a long time since he had used his powers on a mortal, but he knew it wouldn’t take much to wake her. He concentrated on the energy that flowed from his hand into her body, the sharp burst of power illuminating her pale skin. Hades frowned as a burst of light exploded between his hand and her cheek, blinding him as the room filled with an energy that matched that of a star in the night sky for a split second before fading. But he didn’t have time to wonder what the hell it meant as he was instantly focused on Persephone coughing and gasping for air as she woke up. Her hands immediately reached out in front of her and caught his forearm. For a moment Hades considered hiding himself behind the veil that separated their realms, but he knew she had already seen him when he first appeared in the apartment, and now she had her hands on him. He left his hand on her cheek and brought his other hand to rest on top of hers, taking a moment to marvel at how her pale skin against his seemed to lessen the grey hue of death in his skin. She was tiny compared to him, his one hand covering both of hers easily, just his palm covering her entire cheek and allowing his fingers to gently curve around the back of her head. 

Still in a daze, she used his arm as leverage to pull herself up, allowing him to gently help her into a sitting position. Her bright green eyes looked up at him and anxiety gripped his chest as her gaze focused on him and recognition bloomed across her face. Her fingers tightened on his forearm and her lips parted slightly as her thoughts raced, “You…” Her voice trailed off as she struggled to collect her thoughts. “I saw you, when I hit the ground, I saw you and then you – you disappeared. I thought I was crazy, but you’re real. You’re here.”

He furrowed his brows, surprised at the lack of fear and disgust as she stared at him. “You know who I am?”

She nodded slowly, “I didn’t think it was real, I didn’t think anyone would come. The myth says to hit the ground twice to summon…” She blinked hard, trying to convince herself that she wasn’t seeing things, that she hadn’t gone completely crazy.

“To summon me.” He finished for her in a low gentle voice, his blue eyes staring intently into hers.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal. 
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.


	5. To Summon Me

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> (Music was a big help for me in this chapter. For anyone so inclined to listen as they read, I used “I See Fire” by Jasmine Thompson predominantly. I don’t own the rights to any music, just couldn’t get it out of my head.)

Persephone’s eyes hadn’t left his, the bright green of her irises burning into his skin as he tried to discern the emotions fleeting across her face. “To summon me,” he finished for her in a low, gentle voice, his blue eyes staring intently into hers. He raised his hand, briefly tempted to caress her face with the backs of his fingers, but he thought better of risking shocking her any further. He sat, resting on his heels, one knee on the ground to hold his weight steady. He set his arm on his raised knee, not wanting to pull his arm out of Persephone’s warm grasp. He sat quietly, patiently, watching as her eyes roamed over his body, taking in the sight of him as the full realization of his physical presence in her apartment registered in her mind.

He waited for the inevitable shock, the disgust, the fear that he was sure would eventually darken her beautiful features. But she didn’t show any signs of feeling any of the things he expected, her gaze remained curious, surprised as she stared at him. “You came…”

Hades gave her a small smile, a feeble attempt to gently reassure her, “Yes, of course.”

  
She shook her head, “I mean, you came because I summoned you.”

“Yes, Persephone.” He wanted to chuckle, but he knew better than to show amusement to women’s reactions unless the situation deemed it appropriate.

Her green eyes broke away from him, but he caught a fleeting glimpse of the pain and sadness that had washed over them before she could focus her gaze on the floor. “I didn’t think you’d come, I thought I was just convincing myself that it would somehow make me feel better. But tonight - you’re here.” She kept her eyes focused on the floor, Hades could see a single tear slowly running down her flushed cheek as she quietly said, “You came this time.”

He furrowed his brow slightly and gently used a single, crooked finger to raise her chin until her gaze met his, his pale blue eyes captivating hers as he spoke quietly, deliberately, “I have come every time you have called.”

She frowned and averted her eyes, breaking their gazes. “But…why me? I mean, I’m nothing, I’m no one. Why would you come for someone as pathetic and worthless as me? For someone so weak?”

“Persephone, look at me.” He waited until her eyes met his again and he spoke in a gentle but firm tone, “You are not pathetic or worthless. You are not weak. That is not how I have ever seen you, not even for a moment.”

She scoffed quietly, “That’s only because you don’t know me.”

Hades regarded her quietly for a moment, desperately trying to think of how to erase the overwhelming sadness from her eyes. “Persephone, would you trust me, for just a moment?” Her eyes grew wide with curiosity as she studied his eyes, “I want to show you something.” He gazed at her for a moment and held his hand out, “Will you take my hand please?”

She looked down at his impossibly large, pale blue hand, patiently waiting for her to place her hand hand into his. She reached her hand out, hesitating for a moment as it hovered just above his. She looked back up to his eyes, searching for any hint of malintent. Persephone laid her hand in his, her fingertips gently tracing his palm and the heel of his hand as she lightly pressed her skin to his.

She gasped as a jolt of energy ripped through her and the room filled with a blinding light, but in a split second she was left with only a tingling feeling in the skin that touched his as her eyes adjusted to the new light surrounding them. She looked around them, amazed that they seemed to be in a bubble of dark blue light dotted with bright lights that could be traced back to their hands. She looked back to Hades and the breath was stolen from her chest as her eyes met his. The pale blue eyes that she had found comfort in only a moment before were completely black, with bright specks of blue, green, and white illuminating them. She was sure that the entirety of the night sky was gazing back at her as she stared, open mouthed at him. Persephone gently bit her bottom lip as she gazed at him, overwhelmed by the intense beauty looking back at her. She was sure that there was nothing more beautiful in the universe than this man – this God – kneeling in front of her. She struggled to draw in a deep breath, desperately trying to regain her composure as she grew more and more lost in the intensity of his eyes.

His voice was somehow different, as if it had a subtle echo to its already impossible depth. “I want you to see yourself as I have seen you.”

Persephone saw the light around them change out of the corner of her eye and she looked away from the haunting beauty of his eyes. She was looking at herself, but through his eyes, as if he were showing her his memories of her. She watched as she forced herself to stand, as she balanced herself on the back of furniture before squaring her shoulders and walking determinedly to the bathroom. She watched as she held her own chin high as she covered the marks with makeup. She watched as she dizzily fell to the ground and struggled to stand back up, refusing to give up on making her way through her apartment. She watched as she pulled herself out of Aaron’s grasp, as she slapped him as hard as she could and refused to run from him. She watched herself spit in his face in a final act of defiance. And as Persephone watched the images of herself projected around them, waves of thoughts and emotions washed over her mind. She wasn’t sure how, but she could feel Hades’ thoughts and emotions as the scenes played out in front of them. She could feel how brave he thought she was, how strong and determined. She could feel him aching to help her as she struggled, his urge to comfort her in any way possible, and she felt his fear of her rejection. She watched as he gently caressed her cheek, as he ran his fingers through her curls, as he brought her back to consciousness and let her use him to ground herself as she woke in a panic

Persephone looked back to him, his eyes fading back to their usual blue as the room returned to normal and the lights slowly retreated back into their still connected hands. Tears threatened to spill from Persephone’s eyes as she stared at him, completely overwhelmed by the moment that they had just shared. A wild mixture of emotions played ruthlessly across her mind, leaving her unable to pinpoint exactly how she was feeling. Her mind raced as she tried to process the thoughts he had shown her, the emotions he had shared.

“Persephone?”

His voice brought her back to the moment and her eyes focused on his face, tracing over the intense lines. “I have never seen you as weak, I have never seen you as pathetic. Every time you have summoned me, I’ve come. I have watched you struggle and yet you regain your strength, I have watched you stand back up, on your own, after repeatedly being knocked down, I have watched you stand tall in the face of truly horrible adversity that many beings would not be able to withstand. I have watched you overcome, in a way that many beings cannot. You are far from being nothing. You are remarkable.” He gave her a small, reassuring smile as he gently caressed the back of her hand with his thumb.

“But, why did you come to my call? I’m sure I’m not the only woman on earth whose tapped on the ground.”

He regarded her carefully, not wanting to scare her with the intensity of the truth. “It isn’t the tap itself that summons me. It is the will behind it that summons me, it’s how much I’m needed.”

Her eyes searched his, her unrelenting gaze taking him by surprise. “Why did you wait so long to show me that you were there?”

He continued to caress her hand absentmindedly as he tried to read her features for any hint of the thoughts that must have been racing in her mind. “There is a difference between someone’s soul reaching out to me, and someone asking for help.”

She frowned and looked down at her hand in his, almost sure that she could see tiny sparks of electricity playing on her skin as his thumb caressed her in a way that seemed almost natural. Her voice was quiet and unsure as she asked the question that seemed to dominate her mind in that moment, “Why did my soul reach out to you?”

“I don’t know.” His quiet response caught her off guard and her eyes snapped to his, she searched his face for any hint that she had heard him wrong or that he was simply messing with her. But the sincerity of the concern etched into his face eased the doubts she had as she listened to him, “I don’t know why the pull of some souls is stronger than others. But I have never, in all my existence, been so fiercely drawn to a soul as I am to yours. I’m not sure how, or why, but I am tied to you Persephone, until your soul releases me.” He gave her a charming smile and looked down at her hand in his, “So you will simply have to get used to me hiding in the shadows until you find a way to get rid of me.” He watched her for a moment, looking for any hint of a smile in response to his attempt to lighten the mood in the room, but she simply stared at him as if she were trying to see through him.

Persephone struggled to gain control over her mind, trying to determine which train of thought was the most important to follow first. She knew that she should be terrified of this man – this God – in her apartment, holding her hand in his. Even kneeling, she could tell that he was impossibly tall, and as her eyes roamed over his neck and shoulders she realized that she likely couldn’t touch her fingers together if she wrapped her arms around him. Logic told her that she should be frightened, that this imposing, dominating immortal figure sitting in front of her should stir fear in her down to her core, but all she felt when she looked at him was curiosity and awe. But as she frantically tried to wrap her mind around everything that was happening, she could hear the echo of his words, of him telling her that he had come every time she called, she realized that he had seen her in the moments that she had always prayed she would never have to share.

A flood of anxiety washed over her, sending an icy chill down her spine, and Persephone’s breath hitched in her chest. Her heart began to race and she snatched her hand from his before wrapping her arms around her body. Hades recognized the gesture, immediately understanding that she was attempting to metaphorically shield herself from whatever she was feeling. Her voice was quiet, quivering with the overwhelming emotions, “You’ve always come…”

“Yes.”

She looked down at the floor, “You’ve seen everything.” Shame filled her chest, and she suddenly felt overwhelmed with inadequacy as the thought that he had seen her at her absolute weakest seemed to dominate her mind. It didn’t matter that he was focused on how she dealt with the aftermath, she was ashamed that he had seen her being beaten like she didn’t matter and then discarded like trash. He had even seen her complete inability to fight back when she finally snapped. Persephone swallowed her emotions and forced a hard stubbornness into her voice, “I appreciate you being here, but I don’t need your pity.” She forced herself to stand, using every ounce of energy that she had left to simply not crumble under her own weight, “I’m sorry to have wasted your time, but you don’t want to be involved with someone like me.”

Hades stood, not wanting to lose sight of her beautiful face as she moved away from him. “Persephone, I –”

Persephone turned away from him, refusing to allow him to see the tears that blurred her vision and threatened to fall uncontrollably. “You can leave now.” She focused through the haze that was settling over her mind, but she could still feel him standing behind her. “Please,” she said with as much force as she could muster.

The air in the room shifted, the cold seeming to lift and Persephone turned around to find herself alone. She let out a gasp of air, finally releasing the sob that had been building in her chest and she let her legs buckle underneath her. A wave of relief washed over her as she was finally able to drop the façade of strength and she bent over herself, her arms still wrapped tightly around her body as if she were keeping herself from falling apart. The uncontrollable sobs wracked her body with enough force to make her dizzy as she fought for breath.

Persephone was surprised at herself, surprised at her complete loss of control. And surprised at the unexpected source of her outburst of emotions. She wasn’t upset about what had happened with Aaron tonight, she wasn’t scared of how far he had gone with his beating, she wasn’t even thinking about what would happen when he came home. But the thought of Hades, the gentle, tender figure that had taken her by surprise, having seen her so weak, so broken, so pathetically close to completely giving up on herself… Persephone couldn’t stomach the shame of him having seen her like that, the shame of him having to comfort her.

Her mind went back to the incredible display that he had shown her, the raw intensity of the emotions that had flooded through her as their hands connected the two of them in a way that she hadn’t known was possible. It was, quite possibly, the most honest display of trust that she had ever been shown. But even more surprising than the display itself, Persephone couldn’t help but think that no one had ever given her such a precious gift with out expecting anything in return from her, only asking for her trust and attention. She couldn’t think of anything that she had ever been given, by any man, that didn’t come with strings attached. But Hades hadn’t tried to keep her when she pulled her hand away from him, he hadn’t touched her when she had curled into herself, and he had left when she asked him to. He had shown her a level of respect that she had started to believe was only present in works of fiction.

She pulled a shaking breath into her chest, forcing herself to sit upright despite her desire to simply stay in a heap on the ground. She didn’t pull her arms from their tight grip around her chest, the pain that gripped her threatened to overwhelm her if she didn’t anchor herself with her own embrace. She steadied herself, willing her emotions back down to a place where she could hide them, praying for her world to return to the normal she had become so accustomed to.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal. 
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.


	6. DATE OF DEATH: UNKNOWN

“I’m sorry to have wasted your time, but you don’t want to be involved with someone like me.”

Hades blinked in surprise and stood, his concern growing as he saw the slight sway in her posture as she struggled to remain standing. “Persephone, I –” 

She turned away from him abruptly, “You can leave now.”

Hades heard the cold tone creeping into her voice, he knew she wasn’t okay but he wasn’t going to argue with her. He lifted the veil so that he wasn’t visible to her if she were to turn around, but somehow she could still feel him there. Her voice hardened, losing the soft edge that it had when she was talking with him on the floor, “Please.” It wasn’t a question, it was an insistence. Hades thought for a moment and then decided, no matter how worried he was, he would not be the one to disrespect and disregard her wishes. 

He materialized back in the underworld, sitting on the edge of his bed in the exact spot he had been when she had summoned him. Hades briefly thought back to the nightmare that had jolted him out of a dead sleep, recalling the sight of her hair matted with blood, her features swollen and broken, her eyes hollow, dead shells of the flickering green irises she’d had in life. A cold sense of dread washed over his body as he thought back to watching her boyfriend slam her head into the ground until she had passed out, he knew that eventually he would see her before him in the Underworld if she didn’t find a way out of the situation she was trapped in. While it would have been easy to simply drag her down to the Underworld and hide her in the depths of his domain, he knew that he would simply be her captor, just as her boyfriend was, and he didn’t wish to remove her from one prison only to lock her away in another. 

Hades hung his head in his hands, his fingers gripping his scalp in a futile attempt to force the thoughts from his mind. Despite being in a completely different realm, he could still feel her. He could feel the pain in his chest as clearly as when her hand was in his, and he knew that the steadiness in her voice was no more than a false show of strength. Hades couldn’t stop the anxiety from rolling in the pit of his stomach, sending waves of nausea into his throat. He set his jaw as his worry changed to determination and he stood, not bothering to try to sleep any more now that he was back in his own realm. 

Hades quickly changed into something more suitable for the God of the Underworld, slipping on a pair of pinstripe slacks, a deep green dress shirt and suspenders. He decided to forgo the pinstripe jacket, leaving his top button undone and rolling his sleeves to the tops of his forearms. He left the house with an impossibly long stride, whistling at Cerberus so that the three headed dog would follow him out the front door and into his sleek black 1928 Cadillac Town Sedan. He had countless cars, but the ‘28 Cadillac was by far his favorite. He never failed to take a moment to appreciate the sleek running boards, the suicide doors, and the crisp, square cab. Hades opened the door for Cerberus and climbed in after the hellhound, he turned the key in the ignition and the car roared to life, the low rumble giving Hades a brief moment of comfort before he tore out of the driveway and headed to his office. 

Hades didn’t bother parking, he simply pulled up in front of the building and left his car there, knowing that no one would dare touch it as he handled his business. Hades pressed the elevator button and the doors immediately opened, but rather than go to the judgment hall or to his office on the top floor Hades pressed the button for the basement. It was a rarely visited floor of the building; the air was heavy and it was never quite bright enough to be comfortable, it was an unsettling and depressing place, even for the Underworld. But that was how the Fates preferred it, in fact it had been the only condition they had given Hades when he had insisted they had an office in his building with all the other primary functioning offices that helped the Underworld run smoothly.

The doors slowly opened with a faint ding and Hades stepped into the dim basement, Cerberus warily following on his heels. Even Hades felt uneasy walking down the hall to the Fates office, but his mind was set on one thing and he’d be damned if his unease was going to stop him. Hades opened the door and his eyes immediately fell on the little blue nymph sitting behind the reception desk.

“I need to see a Fates File, now.”

She looked up at him and her yellow eyes grew wide with recognition. “Of course, Your Majesty, could you just put your palm on the pad here on the desk?”

Hades crossed the room in a few quick strides and quickly pressed his hand to the little black palm reader. The device was an easy way to find a file on any mortal, living or dead, in an instant. It saved the Fates - and the nymphs working for them - countless hours, it was one of the many reasons that Hades had insisted they move their operation to his facilities. Waiting months for a simple file was unacceptable and grew tedious quickly. 

After a moment they heard a small ding and the nymph looked at her computer screen, confusion washed over her face as she looked at the information being shown. “This mortal is still alive, Your Majesty.”

“I’m aware, I want to see her file.”

She looked back at the computer screen and pressed a few buttons, “I’m sorry Your Majesty but there’s nothing in the system releasing the file to you, and this Fates File is sealed.”

“What do you mean sealed? I am King of the Underworld, I have clearance for everything in my domain. Give me the damn file.”

The nymph’s skin paled to a pastel hue as she looked into his red flaring in his eyes. “I - I’m sorry, Your Majesty, I cant. Not unless the fates release it.”

Hades eyes glowed crimson and the room darkened, a heavy chill settled over the room and black mist crept in from the corners. The nymph looked around desperately, looking for any excuse to escape his growing anger. Just as Hades opened his mouth to demand the file again, the door in the back of the office opened and Clotho appeared. 

She waved the nymph away, giving her an excuse to scuttle out of the room as she avoided Hades’ gaze. “Hades, we’ve been expecting you.” She beckoned to him to follow her with a wave of her hand and turned to retreat back into their office. Hades followed her, watching as her long raven hair swayed with every step she took. The door swung closed behind him as Clotho picked a file up off a desk and opened it as Atropos and Lachesis peered over her shoulder. Hades watched the fates whispering about the contents of the file, their impossibly pale skin glowing as if the moon itself had colored them. They looked up at him in unison, their white eyes distracting him for a moment before he noticed Clotho holding the file out to him.  
Hades took the file from her hand and looked at it, PERSEPHONE ONASIS was stamped on the front in red letters. He sighed and opened the file, looking over the information. 

PERSEPHONE ONASIS  
DATE OF BIRTH: 9 APRIL 1992  
MORTAL  
MOTHER: AUGUSTINE ONASIS (DECEASED)  
FATHER: JAMES ONASIS (DECEASED)  
DATE OF DEATH: UNKNOWN  
CAUSE OF DEATH: UNKNOWN  
FATE: UNKNOWN

Hades’ read over the front page of her file quickly, but his frustration quickly grew as the information he truly wanted wasn’t there. He had never seen a Fates File that had unknown listed in the death information, not even for mortals who were still living. His eyes snapped back to the fates, only to find all six white eyes glowing as they gazed at him. “Where is the rest of the information? You know what I want to know.”

Lachesis spoke, her voice echoing as if in a dark cave, “Her fate has yet to be decided.”

He narrowed his eyes, “You draw a string the moment a mortal is born. Where is her string? Why haven’t you decided?”

This time Clotho spoke, “It is not up to us to decide her fate, she has to decide for herself which path she will take.”

Lachesis spoke again, not giving Hades a chance to ask another question. Her voice grew louder, it’s hollow reverberations haunting the room, “Persephone holds her own string, she has been given the unique ability to shape her own fate. All we can do is record her decisions as she frays the end of that string.”

“My scissors cannot cut her string as with the other mortals, Persephone will sever her string on her own, when she decides her fate.” Atropos voice rang the loudest in the room as all six white eyes lost their glow and the fates disappeared into the dark corners of the room. 

Hades knew better than to try to get anything else out of them, he had grown accustomed to the way that the fates spoke in riddles over the centuries of working in such close proximity. He let out a frustrated sigh and turned on his heel, Persephone’s file still in his hands. Hades went straight to his car and slammed the door shut behind him after letting Cerberus climb in. He had gone to the fates for an answer and had left with more questions than he even realized was possible. How could a mortal choose their own fate, how could the fates not have control over her thread of life? 

Hades slammed his fist on his steering wheel in frustration, eliciting a concerned whine from Cerberus. He looked over at the hellhound and sighed, “There’s only one God on Olympus who would have any idea of what this means, you know.” The hellhound laid all six ears back, as if he knew exactly what Hades was implying. “I know, I don’t want to go either, but I need an answer.” Hades started the car and began the long drive up to Olympus, knowing that the only person that could give him a real answer would be Zeus. 

…

Minthe sat at her desk, wondering why she hadn’t seen Hades pass by her on the way to his office yet. He had become increasingly absent lately, and when he was around he seemed to constantly be distracted. She furrowed her brows in annoyance as she thought about their last interaction in his bedroom. His anger at her mention of his time in the mortal realm was an unexpected reaction that had taken her by surprise, she hadn’t been able to stop thinking about it. She couldn’t help but wonder if Hades responded with so much anger and defensiveness when the other Gods questioned him about their relationship – if she could call it that. 

Hades words played through her mind, and of course she knew he was right. She didn’t really have a right to care what he was doing or with who, not unless she wanted to accept his proposal and take a step into a real relationship with him. Minthe grimaced at the thought of giving up her freedom. She couldn’t deny the appeal of being Queen of the Underworld, and of course Hades’ appeal as a man was enough to sway most women, but Minthe enjoyed her freedom to do whatever she pleased. She appreciated the ability to come and go as she pleased, he was always there to satisfy her more primal urges, but he didn’t ever question who else she was sleeping with or what trouble she was getting herself into. The way they had spent the last few centuries worked for her; she got to enjoy all the perks of dating Hades, including the nice things and the status that came with everyone knowing that they were sleeping together, but she was afforded the freedom to party as much as she wanted without worry about his opinions on who she spent time with or her behavior.

But now, Minthe feared that whatever was going on in the mortal realm, whatever had his attention, was the first sign of their relationship changing. He had something on his mind, and Hades wasn’t the type to just drop something once it piqued his interest. 

Minthe’s thoughts snapped back to reality as she heard her phone ringing in her desk drawer, she glanced down the hall to ensure that Hecate wasn’t lurking nearby and pulled it out to open the text message. 

Minthe’s brows instantly raised as she looked at the text message from Clyte, the nymph who had been assigned to work reception for the Fates. 

…

Hades rolled his eyes as Zeus chattered on about his latest mortal conquest. He hadn’t even finished explaining why he was at the top of Olympus - as soon as Zeus heard he had been spending time in the mortal realm he had started talking and Hades hadn’t yet been able to actually ask the one question he needed answered. 

“I’m telling you, dumping Minthe for a mortal is the way to go. Mortals are the most fun, and they’re easiest to get rid of when you’re sick of them.”

Hades scowled at his brother, “It’s no wonder Hera wants you dead.”

Zeus looked at him, clearly annoyed by the mention of his wife. “She’ll get over it. She always does.”

“Why bother to get married if you’re just going to chase everything under the sun and ignore your wife?”

Zeus shrugged, “Hera was the most beautiful Goddess on Olympus, everyone wanted her.” He slipped Hades a sideways glance, knowing that Hades would catch the implication that he knew about his and Hera’s past. “It was just sort of a given that I would be the one to get her out of everyone. That doesn’t mean that I don’t have other interests. Hera knows her role, she’ll get over this mortal just like she has every single one before her.” Zeus sat back in his chair and popped a grape into his mouth, “So, what was it that you came up here for? It must be serious for you to have driven all the way from the Underworld.”

Hades sighed and pulled Persephone’s Fates File out of his back pocket, he unfolded it and dropped it on the table in front of Zeus. “Tell me what you make of this.”

Zeus raised a brow at him but picked up the file and flipped to the first page. He read for a moment and then his brows furrowed in a deep frown, “How is this possible?”

Hades sighed and flopped back in his chair, “I’m not sure and the Fates, of course, wouldn’t give me a straight answer.”

Zeus nodded, “Of course not, what did they say exactly?”

“They said it wasn’t up to them what happened to her, that she had to choose her own path. And that they couldn’t cut her string, that she would sever her string herself.”

Zeus frowned deeper and set the file on the table in front of him before pressing the tips of his fingers together and touching his forefingers to his chin. “There is only one thing that I believe could do this.” Hades raised his brow at his brother, wordlessly urging him to continue. “I’d venture a guess that you’re Persephone has been touched by an immortal, that she was blessed at birth, before the fates could pull her string.”

Hades eyes narrowed as he tried to grasp what his brother had just said, “She’s just a mortal, why would she have been blessed, and by who?”

Zeus shrugged, “I have no way of knowing that, but if you want to know about this girl then you need to figure it out.”

…

Hades sat in his favorite bar, occupying the booth they kept reserved for him in the back corner as he sipped a glass of brandy and stared at Persephone’s file. He had no idea how to find out what immortal had touched her fate at the moment of her birth, but it made it impossible for him to tell exactly how much danger she was in. Hades felt the pit in his stomach knot tighter as he realized that, without this information, Persephone could perish at any moment and he would never know until she was a shade in front of him and one of the judges. 

Hades jumped slightly as a pair of red hands slammed themselves on the table, snapping him out of his thoughts and back to reality “Who the hell is Persephone Onasis, and why were you demanding her Fates File?” Hades looked up to see Minthe standing bent over the table, both palms on the wood in front of him. He closed his eyes and took another sip of his brandy. He gestured to the seat across from him and Minthe sat, staring at him with daggers darting from her glaring eyes.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal. 
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.


	7. The Trauma Room

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a brief mention of self harm and describes the experience of having a trauma evaluation done upon reporting abuse. This can be triggering or upsetting for some readers. Please read with caution.

Persephone woke up laying on the floor, still in the same place as when she had collapsed on herself after Hades had left. She sat up slowly, taking her time to prevent the dizziness from overtaking her vision. Nausea crept up her throat as she recalled the night before and she shook her head silently, wondering what had possessed her to fight Aaron the way she did. The splitting pain that spread across the back of her scalp as she became more alert brought back the vivid memory of Aaron slamming her into the floor over and over again, the blind rage in his eyes making her think that he was truly going to end her right then. She fought to remember what happened next, to remember anything between that moment and the moment she had woken up.

She went still, her body frozen as her brain registered the memory of the King of the Underworld in her apartment, helping her up after being beaten to a pulp. She thought back to the beautiful display he had shown her, the glimpse into the vision of a God that had taken her breath away, but the residual awe and shock quickly faded as his words echoed in her mind again.

He had come every time she had tapped her fingers. Persephone thought of every time she had tapped her fingers and convinced herself that she was being irrational, acting crazy, she thought back to every time she wondered if she was losing grip on her reality. Anger bloomed in her chest as she thought over all of the things he had told her, but her attention rested on one phrase in particular; he had told her that her soul calling to him was not the same as her asking for help. Persephone looked down at her lap, her anger subsiding for a moment as she realized that he was right. Why should he have shown himself when she wasn’t truly asking for help, when she likely wouldn’t have allowed him to help her anyway?

She thought back to telling him to leave, how she had so coldly turned away from him when all he was trying to do was comfort her. “Fuck,” she muttered to herself. She knew she owed him an apology, some sort of explanation. She tapped the floor once, gently, wondering if he would even come. She hesitated for a moment, forcing herself to take a deep breath before she tapped the floor a second time, a little harder than the first.

Persephone waited, her heart pounding in her ears as she waited, watching for any sign that he would come. After a few seconds of nothing she quietly laughed to herself, “I knew he wouldn’t come after that.”

“I’m here.”

Persephone jumped and spun around, his deep voice resonating from behind her. She pressed a hand to her chest in an attempt to slow her racing heartbeat. He was standing, arms crossed over his chest, head tilted a bit to the side as he looked at her. “I – I didn’t think you’d show up,” she stuttered through her surprise.

He gave her a quizzical frown, “Why wouldn’t I come when you called me?”

She looked at the floor and fidgeted with the long sleeves on her sweater. “The way I told you to leave, I was awful –”

“You were scared.”

Persephone looked up at him, her eyes wide with surprise at his matter of fact statement. Of course, he was right, but she hadn’t expected him to simply know and accept the reason for her behavior. “Y-yes.”

Hades unfolded his arms and stepped towards her, extending his hand to help her up. She tentatively took it, watching the static electricity buzz in little blue lights around their hands. “I told you that I am tied to you, I wasn’t making a joke.” He watched as she slowly got to her feet and looked up at him, her green eyes glittering with unshed tears. “I will always come when you summon me, always.”

She nodded and looked back down at the ground, “I’m sorry for how I spoke to you. That wasn’t fair to you.”

He sighed and knelt down so that he was just below her eye level, forcing her to look at him, “You are allowed to need time for yourself, Persephone. I will always respect your wish for me to leave when you are upset or need time for any reason. And I’ll come back when you are ready for me to return.” He reached out and placed his giant hand on her cheek, gently pressing his skin to hers in an effort to comfort the turmoil he could see rolling inside of her. He frowned as his fingers felt her hair on the back of her head, he pulled his hand back to see bright red blood on his fingers. “Persephone,” he gently turned her so that he could see the back of her head and he inhaled sharply as he saw the dried blood matted in her hair, mixed with the fresh blood that told him she likely had her scalp split open the night before. He turned her back to him, trying to quell the anger that was quickly rising in his chest. “Why haven’t you gone to get this looked at?”

Her eyes widened as she stared at his eyes, amazed at the blood red hue glowing with his anger. “I didn’t know. I just woke up.”

He closed his eyes for a moment, “And you immediately called me?”

“I wanted to apologize,” she said quietly.

He sighed and stood, “Okay. I’m taking you to get this looked at.”

Her eyes widened with panic, “N-no! I can’t! It’ll be fine, it’s not that big of a deal.”

Hades looked down at her, furrowing his brows. He didn’t ever want to force her to do anything she didn’t want, but he wouldn’t simply ignore this. He was going to take her to a hospital to have her wound treated, even if he had to carry her the entire way. “Persephone, you’re bleeding. Even after laying here all night, your head is still bleeding. He cracked your head open, I cannot just let you sit here and bleed until you pass out.” He narrowed his eyes at he looked closely at her, “you already look pale, and you don’t look as though you’re steady on your feet.” He touched his hand to her shoulder, his fingertips grazing her neck, “Last night you were upset that I didn’t do anything to help you before. Let me help you now.”

She swallowed, her throat suddenly painfully dry. She set her eyes intently on his, desperately trying to draw strength from him as she silently nodded at him. His hand wrapped around hers and he pulled her to him before scooping her up in his arms and carrying her to the door of the apartment. She panicked for a moment as she realized he planned on walking right out the front door, “Wh-what about Aaron, what if he sees?” She looked to Hades and was surprised to see his skin changed, the blue pallor of his skin was gone, he looked like a human man with bright cobalt blue eyes – bright enough to be unsettling but not the same unnatural blue as she had seen before.

His voice was low and determined as he opened the apartment door and ducked through the doorframe, “Right now, I don’t give a shit if he sees. I only care about getting you the help you need.”

Persephone struggled to stay conscious and alert as Hades carried her outside, down three flights of stairs, and bundled her into an impossibly old car that he somehow had sitting in the parking lot. The pain that she felt in her head and her neck ebbed and flowed, but it proved to be distracting enough that she hardly registered the drive to the nearest emergency room. She was still in a daze as he scooped her up again, carrying her From the car, through the glass doors, and to the front desk. Persephone was grateful for the emerald green of his shirt, she was sure that her blood would be easy to get out of the dark fabric. His grip was icy, the cold of his skin seeping through her sweater and causing her to shiver in his arms. She could faintly hear Hades giving the admissions nurse all of her information and she briefly wondered how he knew so much about her, but before she could ask he was walking her down a hallway as an ER nurse led the way.

He laid her on the gurney that the nurse gestured to, but rested his hand on her shoulder. She looked up at him, entranced by the hard expression etched into his face as he shrewdly watched the nurse shuffling through paperwork. She turned to them and looked at Hades, “I’m assuming you’re not the boyfriend that did this?”

Hades glared at the nurse for a moment, but shook his head and glanced down at Persephone. Her eyes were far off and glazed, as if she wasn’t fully present for what was about to happen. She didn’t answer the nurse when asked for an emergency contact person, so Hades answered quietly, “You can put me on the paperwork. Aidoneus Andro.”

The nurse nodded and jotted the name down, “A trauma nurse will be in to see you in a moment.” She laid a gentle hand on Persephone’s leg and gave her a soft smile, Hades stiffened protectively as he felt Persephone tense at the nurses touch and he gave her shoulder a gentle squeeze. “I need you to change into a gown honey,” the nurse said softly before leaving the room. Hades felt Persephone relax as she let a small sigh escape her lips. He could see her deflate a bit, as if she wasn’t so worried about keeping herself together now that they were alone.

She slowly scooted towards the edge of the gurney. She stood slowly, swaying slightly as the room spun around her, she was dangerously close to collapsing under her own weight and Hades could see her knees start to buckle. He reached out quickly and grabbed Persephone, holding her weight easily. A crack of electricity sounded as his skin made contact with hers, the energy of the room charged and hanging heavy as he held her. She felt like a baby bird in his grasp, tiny and light, so broken that he could shatter her with the smallest amount of pressure.

She looked up at him, the green of her eyes somehow dull and lifeless. Her voice was so quiet that he almost didn’t hear her, “I think I need help with the gown. Would you…?”

Hades nodded solemnly. He gently helped her pull her sweater off, exposing her arms and chest in the spaghetti strap tank top she was wearing underneath. Hades pulled in a sharp hiss of breath as he looked at her, he had expected to see signs of abuse on her body but he was taken aback at the severity of what he saw. Without the oversized sweater to hide everything, Hades could see bruises in the shape of fingers at the base of her throat, large purple and green marks the approximate size of a mortal fist scattered across her chest and arms, the distinct marks of a hand that had wrapped around her upper arm until it had broken the blood vessels beneath the surface. Persephone slowly pulled her tank top over her head, Hades caught a glimpse of her forearms in the harsh light of the trauma light and immediately recognized the litany of scars that littered her skin. She wore a bandage wrapped around one of her forearms, Hades had a feeling deep in his stomach that he knew what she was covering, but he knew that it wasn’t the right moment to ask her. He took the tank top from her as he helped her stand and tossed it into the chair with her sweater. He tenderly held her hand and arm as she used him to steady herself in order to slip off her combat boots and leggings. He let go of her for a moment, making sure she was leaning safely against the gurney before turning to get the gown that the nurse had left. He shook it open and turned back to Persephone.

He froze for a moment as he looked at her. She looked impossibly small as she stood in a bra and boy shorts, her shoulders slumped forward as she stared off into the distance with an emptiness in her eyes. He forced the thoughts from his mind as he held the gown open for her, she slipped her arms in and he touched her shoulder as a signal for her to turn around so that he could tie the back closed for her.

She looked down at the gurney, realizing that it suddenly felt impossibly tall as another wave of dizziness crossed her senses. Hades saw her hesitation and knelt down to scoop her up into his arms again. He held her close to his chest for a moment, willing himself to pass even an ounce of strength to her in an effort to keep her from completely breaking in front of him. She rested her forehead against his chest, allowing his body to anchor her and stop the room from spinning.

The door to the trauma room opened and two nurses swept into the room with a cart of supplies. Hades mouth hardened into a thin line as he laid Persephone back on the gurney and tried to step out of the way. “Okay, Persephone?” The smaller of the two nurses looked at her as she spoke, her tone far too bubbly for what they were about to do, “We’re going to start your work up, alright?” She gently took Persephone’s arm and pulled her into a sitting position. “We need to take some photos and measurements, and then we’ll get your scalp closed up, okay?”

She began to unbutton the shoulders of Persephone’s gown and the other nurse touched Hades’ arm to get his attention. He looked down at her, her tilted head and gentle smile doing nothing to ease the knot in his stomach. “We need you to step outside, we’ll take care of her.” Hades opened his mouth as he started to protest but she stopped him, “It’s required, you can wait right outside and as soon as we’re done taking photos you can come back in.” He allowed her to shuffle him out of the room, taking one last look at Persephone, sitting on the gurney with a tear sliding down her cheek as she watched him leave. Hades felt the tingling burn of rage wash across his skin as the door closed, cutting her off from his view. He sighed and sat down on the bench across the hall, directly in front of the door to her room, determined that he would be there the second they allowed him back into the room.

Persephone let the nurse pull the gown down from her shoulders, the numbness that had enveloped her like a comforting blanket fading away as her senses began to register the nurses hands on her. The reality of what was happening hit Persephone, bringing with it a wave of anxiety that made her want to pass out so that she wouldn’t have to deal with any of it. The nurses gentle hands on her skin felt like searing metal against her flesh, leaving trails of heat and pain as they held her arms out and pressed little rulers to her skin as they snapped photos of her injuries. The bright flash of the camera, blinding her over and over again in short bursts of light chipped away at her resolve, bringing her closer and closer to an emotional break. Persephone swallowed hard and looked away from the camera, willing herself to remain stoic and resigned, detaching herself from the process.

The nurse took the cloth bandage off of her arm, revealing the deep, healing wounds that Persephone had inflicted on herself in a fit of emotion a few weeks prior. The nurse took a quick photo and replaced the bandage. Her hands worked quickly, her fingers nimble and adept at dealing with injuries like the ones that marked Persephone. “Lay back for me, dear,” she nurse said quietly as she gently pressed Persephone back onto the gurney. The nurse lifted her chin and they took photos of her neck, the little plastic ruler cold against her sensitive skin as they turned her chin from one side to another. They moved down, taking photos of the marks on her stomach from where Aaron had kicked her, the huge bruise on her side finally turning yellow as it started to disappear. Persephone let them lift her so that she was laying slightly rolled onto her side, taking a photo of the bruise from another angle to show the extent of the damage.

“We’re almost done sweetheart,” the nurse said softly as they moved down to the bruises on her thighs. The nurse measured a particularly large bruise that ran to the inside of her thigh and looked up to Persephone, “Do you need an internal exam?”

Persephone’s eyes looked to the ceiling as she shook her head no, she could at least be thankful that things hadn’t gone that far yet. She heard the nurse set the camera on the metal tray they had wheeled into the room with them. “Okay, would you like your friend to come back in while you wait for the doctor and an officer?”

Persephone nodded, refusing to avert her gaze from the fluorescent light above her. She heard them open the door and wheel their supplies out, and she could hear Hades’ footsteps lightly tapping on the tile floor as he crossed the hallway. She looked over at him as he closed the trauma room door behind him. He looked tired, his face etched with worry as he looked at her laying on the gurney, the gown laid over her. He immediately sat on the edge of the gurney and started snapping the shoulders closed on the hospital gown. “You don’t have to do that,” she said quietly.

Hades didn’t answer as he closed the shoulder on the other side. He was searching for anything to say to comfort her, to try and bring some life back into her eyes as she watched him. Finally, Hades set his hand on her shoulder and spoke quietly, “You were brave, you know.” She raised her brows, silently asking for clarification. “The way you fought back, it was brave.”

“It was stupid,” Persephone looked away from, thinking back to how the night had ended. The momentary triumph she had felt when she’d spit at Aaron had been overshadowed by the pain and fear that she felt now.

Hades gently touched his fingers to Persephone’s chin, pulling her gaze back to his. “It was brave. What he did does not change that.” Persephone couldn’t help but stare into his blue eyes, somehow compelled to believe him despite the doubt that was lingering at the edges of her thoughts.

Persephone couldn’t help but notice the clarity in her thoughts as she looked at him, she had always imagined that the God of the Underworld would bring an aura of gloom, a darkness with him. But his presence didn’t feel like what she imagined death to be, it was sharp and intense, focused in a way that was impossible to ignore. She could feel the calm settle over her as his fingers barely grazed her skin, she could feel the calming numbness begin to spread over her again as she forced the thoughts of what had happened with Aaron from her mind.

They sat in silence as the doctor came into the trauma room, forcing Hades to move around the bed to make room for him. Hades watched the doctor work with a gaze sharp enough to cut through diamonds, silently resting a hand protectively on Persephone’s shoulder as he stood, towering over the doctor. Persephone allowed her focus to wander, zoning out completely as he sewed a few stitches in to the gash in the back of her head, not even noticing when he finished and left the room.

Persephone was so lost in the fog in her mind that she didn’t notice the police officer walk into the room, she didn’t hear Hades speaking to him in a low voice, and she didn’t hear the officer ask her to file report. She didn’t notice anything until Hades knelt down to her eye level and his voice saying her name cut through the block in her mind. She blinked as he looked at her, “Will you file this report?”

Persephone looked from Hades to the officer and simply nodded. The officer handed her a printed page of information, “You don’t need to make a statement right this moment, if you can confirm all of the information we’ve been given then we can start the process.” Persephone looked down at the page, skimming over her name, address, phone number, she tried to focus on the details section of the page she was given, but her mind only registered some of the words. Her vision jumped from the words ‘domestic battery’ to Aaron’s name and she handed the paper back to the officer as nausea bubbled in her throat. She nodded as she faintly heard him ask if it all looked correct, she was sure that Hades had given them the details of what had happened and she didn’t have the energy or mental clarity to try to recount everything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal. 
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.  
> ...
> 
> This chapter would have been impossible to write were it not for Lambkt helping me sort through my thoughts, my goals, and my personal experiences. This chapter was especially difficult to articulate and I am so grateful for how open and accepting she was in helping me through this one! 🖤


	8. ‘If you’re going to survive this.’

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> CONTENT WARNING: Implied sexual assault

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains strong depiction of domestic abuse. 
> 
> THE LAST PARAGRAPH IMPLIES SEXUAL ASSAULT, although it is not described. YOU CAN SKIP THE LAST CHAPTER WITHOUT LOSING ANY INFORMATION RELEVANT TO THE CHAPTER/PLOT OF THE STORY.
> 
> Please read with caution.

Persephone looked up at Hades, her eyes hollowed with exhaustion. “Do I have to go home yet?”

Hades fought to hide the sadness that crossed his features as he took in the pain etched on her face. He had already decided that he didn’t would not be the one to deny her what she wanted, he wanted to give her back some feeling of control to ease the pain that she couldn’t escape. “No, you don’t.”

It took Hades a moment to decide where to take her – he was sure that she wouldn’t want to go sit down in a restaurant in the condition she was in, and he certainly didn’t want to drive her in circles. Finally, Hades settled on the nearby riverbank; something about the sound of a river ebbing and flowing was cathartic and relaxing. Despite the chill that had settled in the cool fall air, he couldn’t think of another place that he thought would clear her mind after the hours spent in the emergency room. He watched her walk down the wooded hill, slowly making her way through the grass and down to the edge of water. He trailed closely behind her, not wanting to intrude on her thoughts and emotions as she got closer to the sand at the riverbank.

She stopped a few feet from the water’s edge and pulled off her boots before rolling up her leggings, exposing herself from the knees down. Hades stood silently behind her and he watched her step towards the edge of the water, digging her toes into the sand under feet. The cold river lapped at the shore, every now and then kissing her skin. She closed her eyes and pulled a deep breath into her chest, seeming to breathe life into herself. Persephone stood, so still that her breath was the only indication that she was still a part of the world around her, her palms turned out to face the water as if she were offering herself to the river.

Hades couldn’t ignore the change in the air as Persephone stood near the water, like she was drawing the energy from the world around her, calling and gathering it around herself like a barrier against anything that may threaten her. The air was charged in a way that he hadn’t felt in the mortal realm before, as if the sky were trying to signal some impending disaster that they couldn’t foresee. If Hades didn’t know that Persephone was a mortal, he would swear that she could wield some control over the world around her; he would be awestruck and terrified by the energy that surrounded her as she summoned the spirits of the earth and the plants. He could practically see the air around her buzzing, even the birds seemed to have stopped chirping as they turned their attention to Persephone standing at the edge of the water.

Hades looked to the sky as he felt rain drops on his shoulders, he could see the storm clouds quickly rolling overhead. They moved with a purpose, as if they had been summoned. He looked back to Persephone, her palms turned upwards and she was watching the rain drops shatter against her skin. He took a deep breath, forcing himself to shake the awe that overwhelmed him. “Persephone,” he called to her. “I’d like to get you out of the rain.”

She turned her gaze to him, her green eyes surprising him with the intensity that glittered in them. She simply stared for a moment before stepping out of the water and slipping her boots back on. She walked up the embankment without a word, without a second glance at the river, and he watched her walk slowly back to his car before following her to take her home.

…

Persephone took a steadying breath as she prepared to open the door to her apartment. Aaron’s car parked near the building told her that he was home, likely waiting for her, and she was sure that nothing good would come of stepping through the door. For a moment she regretted telling Hades to leave, insisting that she would be fine and that she had to deal with this on her own. She thought back to the worried look in his eyes as she insisted he go back to the Underworld, promising to summon him if she needed him. She set her lips in a hard line, steeling herself against the onslaught of emotions that she was sure waited for her just inside.

As she opened the door and stepped over the threshold of her apartment, she was immediately overwhelmed with the heavy smell of alcohol and beer bottles littered across the floor. Her gaze roamed across the living room, following the trail of bottles like a trail of breadcrumbs. Aaron sat in the recliner, swiveled so that his gaze was on her the moment she had come in the door. It was clear that, rather than getting up, he had simply been throwing the bottles in the direction of the door as he waited for her.

“Where the fuck have you been?” his speech was slurred and she could see the glaze of inebriation in his eyes.

She didn’t want to engage him, but her thoughts drifted back to Hades calling her brave and a part of her was determined to live up to that assessment. “I went to the hospital.”

“And the cops,” he sneered at her.

Persephone raised her brows at him, unable to hide her surprise that the cops had been there so quickly. “I couldn’t exactly hide my skull being split open, of course the nurses wanted to know what happened.” She stood near the door, torn between wanting to stand her ground and the uncontrollable urge to flee before he got out of the chair. “I didn’t make a statement, I just signed the paper at the hospital.” A twinge of shame shot through her as she backtracked, her voice seeming to work on its own despite her thoughts screaming that he had no right to be angry and not to indulge him.

Aaron got up out of the chair, steady on his feet despite the copious amounts of alcohol he had obviously consumed. Persephone had never seen the look on his face before, his anger settling into an uneasy calm. “Cops came here, to the apartment.” He took a few steps towards her, his pace slow and menacing. “They were looking for me to discuss a domestic violence incident.” Persephone glanced at the door, trying to decide if she still had the ability to bolt from the apartment, but Aaron quickly closed the distance between them. “Don’t you dare,” his voice was chillingly low, the tone a promise of punishment that she couldn’t escape.

Persephone took a step back from Aaron, simultaneously putting more distance between her and the door. She could feel the fear creeping into her stomach, setting her nerves on edge as her body prepared to react instinctively. He matched every step she took, backing her farther into the apartment. Her eyes flicked down to his fists, watching him clench and unclench them as he advanced on her. “Aaron,” she said his name quietly in an attempt to bring him back to reason, “we can just talk. We don’t have to make this any worse.”

“Sure, baby,” his tone was sickly sweet, “just come over here and we’ll talk about it.” Persephone fought the wave of panic induced nausea as she looked over his shoulder to the door. She knew that it would be impossible to get around him from where she was now, her only exit blocked as he corralled her further inside.

Persephone knew that she had to get around him, her brain was suddenly telling her to run. Every nerve in her body was screaming that tonight was different, that she needed to get to safety before he could put his hands on her. Her eyes widened with panic, her expression akin to an animal that knows its about to become prey. She surveyed the distance between him and her, then the distance between her and the door. Persephone had no idea if she would have enough space to get around him, but she knew that this was very likely going to be her only chance.

Aaron’s eyes followed her every move, watching her as he waited for his chance to take the first strike at her. “Not feeling so tough this time?” His voice was almost amused, taunting her as he watched her try to plan her escape route. He took another step towards her, slowly closing the gap between them and squaring his shoulders.

Persephone saw her window closing, she took a quick glance in both directions and bolted. She lunged to her right, desperately hoping that she could make it around the coffee table quickly enough to get past him.

She cried out as Aaron grabbed her waist and pulled her back to him; he held her hard with her back to his chest. He wrapped his arms around hers, clenching his fists around her wrists. Persephone struggled against him, desperately trying to free herself from his grasp. Aaron lifted her off of her feet, balancing her weight against his chest and moving the few steps towards the center of the room. He dropped her to the ground and quickly climbed on top of her chest before she could move away from him, resting his knees on her upper arms to hold her in place.

Persephone’s heart raced, her pulse roaring in her ears as she fought the panic slowly fogging over her mind. She tried to pull her arms from under his knees, but Aaron leaned more of his weight into her, cutting off her circulation and instantly bruising her slender arms. The pain was instant and relentless, sharpening Persephone’s focus. “I’m going to teach you a lesson this time, Persephone.” He grabbed her by the chin, jerking her face to meet his eyes. “And I’m going to make sure that you don’t forget it.”

Persephone’s mind raced, frantically trying to remember any of her self defense lessons in hopes of remembering something that would help her get out from under him. Aaron brought the back of his hand down against her cheek, filling the apartment with the sound of her cheek instantly splitting open with the force. Persephone could feel the blood trickling down her cheek and into her ear, she gasped for air and blinked hard in an attempt to banish the white spots of pain from her vision. The rush of adrenaline mixed with the searing pain banished any sense of panic from her mind and Persephone’s thoughts became sharp and clear. She arched her back, hard, throwing Aaron off balance and forcing him to lean to the side to stop himself from falling. Persephone took the opportunity to flip over underneath him and frantically start to crawl out of his reach.

She could feel her nails digging into the carpet as she struggled to pull her legs out from underneath him, but Aaron was already back on his knees and he lurched forward to wrap a hand in her hair. He quickly yanked her head up by her hair and slammed it back down, striking the ground with her face in one fluid motion. Persephone yelped and her hands flew to the back of her head, using her nails to claw at his hands in an attempt to free herself. “Aaron –” she shouted against the carpet, “Aaron, stop!”

He pulled on her hair again, arching her back up so that he could put his lips to her ear. “You don’t tell me when to stop.” She could feel his breath, hot and humid against her skin, as he spoke quietly. “You don’t tell me what I can and cannot do.” He pulled harder on her hair, “And you don’t –” he yanked her head farther back, emphasizing the word, “go crying to the cops when you make me do this shit.” He shoved her head back to the ground, moving his hand down to the back of her neck and pinning her with his weight. “Do you think this is what I wanted? You think I wanted to come home and have to deal with this shit?”

Persephone struggled to breathe, his weight on her neck crushing her windpipe as he spoke. Her thoughts were clear, crisp like the autumn breeze, and Persephone forced herself to lay still in an attempt to convince him to let go of her. She balled her fists against the carpet, digging her nails into her palms as she forced herself to let him talk without reacting. She drowned out his voice, focusing all of her attention on trying to subtly adjust her neck so that she could pull in a real breath. It took everything in her not to panic beneath him, not to thrash her body in a violent attempt to escape.

 _No_ , she reasoned with herself, _you have to stay calm if you want to survive this._

Aaron waited a moment, watching for a sign of movement beneath him. When Persephone lay subdued, he let go of her neck, giving it a slight shove as he pulled his hand away. He pulled himself off of her, grabbing her by the upper arm and forcing her to get up onto her knees with him. His hands wrapped around both of her arms, digging into them with biting force that made Persephone’s breath catch in her throat.

“Why do you keep making me do this to you,” his voice was quiet, if the words out of his mouth had been different his tone would have been gentle, loving even.

Persephone looked into his eyes, his honey irises tinged with rage and a strange sadness that stunned her. Persephone softened, captivated by the pain that she saw when he looked at her. For a moment she wondered if this was her fault, if somehow things could go back to how they were and they could be happy again. She doubted herself, doubted her need to escape. She couldn’t help but think that if she could love him better, if she could stop upsetting him, then he wouldn’t keep doing this to her. But the moment was short lived, as Aaron brought his hand up again and cracked her across the same place he had before, sending a reverberating shock of pain through her.

The force knocked Persephone to the ground and a sharp sob broke through her. Aaron could see her gasping for air through the shaking of her shoulders, her hair fell down around her face so that he couldn’t see her. Persephone glanced up with her eyes, still trying to focus on getting to the front door.

Aaron put his hand gently on the back of her head, running it down her hair and over her back. He gently gripped her by her waist and pulled her up, helping her sit up and face him. He gently cupped her cheek with his hand, stroking her with his thumb as he stared into her eyes. “Do you know how much I love you, Persephone?”

Persephone bit her lip, fighting a wave of nausea at his too gentle touch. She glanced at the door, building up the courage to make a run for it. She closed her eyes for a moment, forcing herself to quell her disgust and fear and she looked into Aaron’s eyes. She forced a small smile, reassuring herself that she just needed to catch him off guard. “I know you love me, Aaron,” she whispered shakily. “But you’re scaring me right now.”

He shushed her and pressed his lips to her temple, “I know, baby, and I’m sorry.” Persephone felt his body start to relax and her focus sharpened. She knew that she was only going to get one more chance to get to the door, and failing to get there would be her end. “I just need you to understand,” he whispered with his lips against her temple, his shoulders falling forward as he dropped his guard. “ _You belong to me_ , Persephone. You always will.”

Persephone felt his center of balance shift and she saw her chance. Adrenaline surged through her body as she slapped his hand away from her face. “I do _not_ belong to you,” she snapped as she shoved his body away from her and lunged for the door.

She was quick, almost making it to the door of their apartment, but he wrapped his hand around her ankle and yanked her to the floor. Persephone flipped onto her back as he drug her back to him, poised to strike him again in order to get out of his grasp. Before she could react, Aaron’s fist made contact with her stomach, knocking the breath out of her and forcing her to curl into a ball on the floor. Her thoughts swam in a fog of pain and panic, but the feeling only intensified as Aaron punched her again.

“ _God damn you_ ,” he shouted as he grabbed a handful of her hair in his fist and stood, dragging Persephone as he walked down the hall. Her hands moved to her hair, clutching at his hand and the top of her head, desperate to quell the pain ripping through her scalp. Aaron used his shoulder to slam their bedroom door open and threw Persephone on the ground beside the bed. He immediately kicked her in the side, sending a searing wave of pain through her body that blinded her. “I am fucking _done_ playing this game with you, Persephone.” He knelt down and grabbed her face, pulling her chin up so that she was facing him before he spat in her face, clearly still upset about her reaction the night before.

He shoved her face back to the floor and his hands grasped the collar of her sweater, tearing it down the front to expose her to him. She looked at his lips moving, but her heart beat pounded in her ears, drowning out whatever it was that he was saying. Aaron raised his fist and brought it down hard on her cheekbone, making her head bounce against the floor beneath her with the force of the strike. Persephone’s vision went dark as she felt his hands yanking her leggings down her thighs and Persephone slipped into unconsciousness.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal. 
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.


	9. Burnt Copper

Persephone squinted her eyes, the harsh light of the morning forcing her into consciousness. She rolled onto her side, pain burning over her body like wildfire in a dry field. Everything hurt, from the top of her scalp all the way into her thighs. She slowly started forcing herself to collect her thoughts and memories from the night before. She touched her fingers gingerly to her cheek, hissing in pain as she felt the swollen, cut skin left from Aaron’s blows to her face. Her chest ached and her arms burned, she couldn’t inhale without pain radiating from her stomach and ribs. But what caught Persephone’s attention was the throbbing ache of her inner thighs. 

Persephone forced herself into a sitting position, moving as little as possible as she righted herself. She looked down at herself, blinking hard as she processed the state of her clothes. Persephone stared at the ripped edges of her sweater hanging around her, her tank top pushed up around her chest, noting the bright red and blue coloring of the fresh bruises on her torso. Persephone’s mind flooded with the image of Aaron standing over her, kicking her, and then ripping her sweater open…

Persephone’s blood ran cold as she thought back to the last thing she remembered. She looked around the room, praying she was wrong as her eyes fell to her leggings and panties discarded a few feet away. She reached a shaking hand to her inner thighs, afraid to look at the bruising, and she lightly touched her fingers to her skin. Her heart dropped as she felt the dried blood and the swelling between her legs. Aaron had never gone that far before, but it was clear to her that he no longer cared about crossing that line. He had lost that small shred of compassion and humanity. Persephone knew enough to know that rape had nothing to do with arousal, passion, or love. She knew that it came from anger, from loss of control. She knew that he was trying to tighten his grip on her, to keep her in the little box he had made for her. 

She inhaled deeply and unsteadily, her breath hot and painful as she tried to summon the will to get up and go to the shower. She didn’t need a mirror to know how awful she looked. She could feel the blood dried in her ear, sticky and flaking with every movement, and she knew that her hair was matted and disheveled from how he had handled her. A shower needed to be the first thing she did, she needed to feel human again, even if it was only just barely. She wondered if she had the strength to stand on her own and she considered tapping her fingers on the ground. She thought back to the day before, the nurse’s face and hands still fresh in her mind, and decided against summoning Hades again. The hospital wasn’t on her list of things to do for the day, and she wasn’t equipped to deal with how much worse it would be after the severity of the night before. 

She closed her eyes for a moment and willed herself to get through the pain just long enough to make it to the bathroom, convinced that a shower would refresh her enough to make it through the next few hours. She placed her hands on the grey carpet, bracing herself for the pain that she knew was coming, and pushed herself up from the floor. She wiped the tears from her eyes and willed herself to take a breath as she stood, stubbornly pushing herself to keep moving. She stumbled as she tried to adjust to walking with the various aches and pains coursing through her, finally limping to the bathroom and sitting on the edge of the bathtub to turn on the hot water. She slowly pulled her tank top and bra over her head, tossing them to the floor in an eager attempt to strip herself of any reminder of the night before. 

Persephone leaned against the tile of the shower and slowly pulled herself under the stream of water, the sting of the heat running down her body like lava burning a path for the earth to be reborn. She stared at the bottom of the bathtub, watching the rivulets of water stained with blood pooling around her feet. Persephone set her jaw and went about washing herself clean, scrubbing away the blood and tears, wishing she could wash his touch away with it. 

When the water ran clear and the pain had subsided a bit, Persephone stepped out of the shower and wrapped the towel that hung on the wall around herself. She was fairly sure that at least one of her ribs was broken, every breath felt like a knife through her chest, but she forced herself to stay upright. Persephone pulled out the bottle of pain medication that she had been given a few months earlier after Aaron had broken her wrist and popped three of them into her mouth, swallowing them with a palm full of water from the sink. She wiped the fog from the mirror with her hand and stared at herself, calmly surveying the damage. 

Persephone’s left cheek was swollen and purple, the skin split in a line about two inches long down her cheekbone. Her eye was swollen almost closed on the same side, swollen and aching as it tried to recover from the trauma. She lightly ran her the tips of her fingers over her lips, the tissue bloated and soft, broken near the corner of her mouth. Persephone looked down at her neck, the bruises from the other night darker as they healed, fingerprints marking her with his rage. Persephone had stood in front of that mirror too many times to count, each time looking at worse and worse damage to her body – to her soul – done by Aaron. She had stared at herself with pity, with pain and resentment. She had blamed herself for the marks that never seemed to fade before new ones were inflicted. But as she stared, her face almost unrecognizable, something changed in her. Persephone didn’t feel even the faintest hint of sadness, of self-pity, of blame. 

She looked at herself, at the cuts on her face that would likely scar, at the bruises that makeup couldn’t possibly cover, and Persephone felt something snap within her. Not the light, quiet snapping of a twig. A sharp, echoing snap, like the sound of a tree falling in the forest. A loud, crashing snap that reverberated in her chest. The heat of rage burned through her and she took a deep breath as her heartbeat slowed. She stared into her own green eyes, watching them glitter with a calm fury that was unmatched by anything she had felt before. She laid both hands on the porcelain sink and leaned closer to her reflection, studying her face as if it were the first time she had really looked at herself. 

He had gone too far for her to ignore it, for her to simply convince herself that it was her own fault. She considered the night before to be an act of war, and Persephone was drawing her line in the sand. Her voice shook with uncontrollable rage as she narrowed her eyes, “This is the end of him.” 

…

Minthe stared across the booth at Hades, her black eyes narrowed and glowing with a soft red hue. “So,” she snapped at him, “Are you going to tell me what this is all about?”

Hades stared into his brandy, silently wondering how he wanted to handle this situation. A part of him, the part that had been with her for a few centuries, wanted to tell her everything. But another part of him was tired of the game and tired of feeling like he owed her anything, especially considering that she was very open about the fact that she didn’t want to have anything serious with him. Hades had grown tired of their arrangement, of her behavior, and his patience was wearing thin. “Minthe,” he said quietly, “why do you even care?”

She looked taken aback for a moment, mouth open with shock at the abrupt question. “What the hell do you mean, why do I even care?” She looked around them, making sure that they weren’t being watched by the entire bar, and lowered her voice, “we’re basically together, Hades. Don’t you think I have a right to know why you’ve suddenly taken interest in this woman? In the entire time I’ve known you, you have never requested a Fates File for a living mortal.”

“We’re not together, Minthe. I take you to dinner when you have no one else to hang out with, I buy you things to impress your little social circle, we have sex when you can be bothered to grace my bed with your presence. But we are not together. I know I’m not the only being you’re having sex with, and I know that you only come to me as a last resort or when you want something from me.”

She glared at him, unable to argue but still furious at his assessment of their situation. For a moment she wanted to be honest with him, to tell him that she was jealous and that she didn’t want to see him seeking comfort elsewhere. But her pride gripped her and she allowed her insecurity to dictate her response instead. “So, you’ve found some mortal piece of ass and all of the sudden you and I don’t matter anymore?”

Hades’ eyes flashed red as she referred to Persephone. “Don’t,” he warned, his voice low and threatening. 

Minthe saw the anger in his eyes and knew that she should simply drop it, but her anger had taken hold and she couldn’t seem to heed the warning he was giving her. “You know, you always say you don’t want to be like your brother. But look at you, some random mortal catches your eye and suddenly the relationship you’ve spent centuries in is just ignored, suddenly I don’t even matter to you.”

“Minthe…” Black smoke had begun to creep into the space around them, his temper dangerously flaring as she continued talking. 

“Whatever, Hades. I get it, you found something new and exciting. You’ll be back when you get bored, or when she realizes what you truly are.” 

Hades slammed a fist on the table, his glass of brandy bouncing slightly at the impact. “Minthe! I said enough!” He took a deep breath, trying desperately to rein his anger in as the tendrils of black smoke thickened around them. “It is truly not your place to question me on this. Even if we were in a serious relationship, I am the King of the Underworld, I will do as I please and you are not to behave like a petulant child in response.”

Minthe’s ears went hot with anger as he spoke. Her vision clouded for a moment as his words registered in her mind. A small voice was telling her that she should stop, that she should apologize for crossing the line and leave it alone. But she couldn’t stop herself. She grabbed the glass of brandy off the table, “Oh, I’m sorry,  _ Your Majesty _ . Is this too childish and petulant?” She threw the liquid in his face, drenching him with the rich, caramel brown drink. 

Hades’ eyes instantly turned black as he stood, his broad shoulders stiff with tension and rage. He rested his palms on the table so that he was leaning over Minthe, who was now retreating into herself in fear. “I would suggest,” he spoke with a terrifying calm as black mist swirled around her in rapidly growing thickness, “that you get out of my sight, before I use the full extent of my power as the King of this Domain to make you _sorely_ repentant for your behavior.”

Minthe’s eyes went wide, the red draining from her irises and her ears dropped as she stared at him. Her mouth hung slightly open and she cowered in the booth for a moment before she snapped out of it and quickly scurried out of the booth and away from Hades. 

He watched Minthe disappear from the bar as his eyes slowly returned to their usual pale blue. He sighed and dropped himself back into the booth as a waitress set a handkerchief, a glass of soda water, and a new brandy on the table in front of him. He gave her a small smile of thanks as he reached for the square of cloth. He wiped his face and dabbed at his shirt, but he knew that he was going to reek of brandy until he got home and showered. His eyes fell on Persephone’s Fates File, still on the table in front of him, now spattered with brandy. 

...

Persephone pulled the box of cigarettes out of her bottom drawer. They had sat in the same place for the last 13 months, she had quit smoking when she and Aaron had moved in together in an attempt to be accommodating and to avoid him continuing to lecture her about the habit. But now, as she silently contemplated what she was going to do to rectify her current situation, all she wanted was a cigarette, and so the box came out of the drawer without a second thought. Persephone sat on the bed as she rested the cigarette between her swollen lips and lit it, pulling in a deep drag that was calming and exhilarating all at the same time. 

She chewed on her thumbnail in between drags, going over the many options as to what she could do in her mind while she waited for Aaron to come home. Persephone knew that she didn’t want to go to the hospital, she didn’t want to involve cops and doctors and countless other people who would get involved and complicate the matter even further. She didn’t need to put herself through another exam, she didn’t think she could handle how intrusive and cold the entire process was, and adding a rape trauma kit to that would no doubt only make it worse. She briefly thought of asking Hades for help, but she was sure he would take her to the emergency room just as he had before, and she wasn’t exactly thrilled for him to see the way she looked after Aaron’s fit the night before. Persephone stared into the closet, her eyes falling on all of Aaron’s clothes. She decided that she was going to do something about this herself. 

She finished her cigarette and slowly started gathering all of his things. She spent the afternoon folding it all into neat piles and stacking it all on the bed, trying to keep it as organized as possible. She made sure that she didn’t miss a single item of his clothing, gathering everything from the closet, the bathroom, the laundry hamper, even his framed FFDP t-shirt that he had gotten autographed by the entire band. Stack by stack, she took all of his things outside, piling them neatly on the grass outside of their apartment building. When she had gotten everything down the stairs and stacked on the grass, Persephone sat down on the building stairs and waited. 

She could feel the rage settling in her throat as she lit another cigarette. Her mind didn’t even register the pain anymore, if it hadn’t been for her compromised vision it could have even been possible to forget about the damage done to her face. She wasn’t sure how he would react, but Persephone intended to make it incredibly clear to Aaron that she was finished, that she wouldn’t be his punching bag anymore. She was going to make it clear that she was angry – no, not angry. She was _pissed_. 

Her bright pink hair was pulled into a loose ponytail and Persephone wore a black v-neck t-shirt sweater paired with her favorite ripped jeans. She wasn’t worried about hiding her bruises anymore, her makeup had gone untouched as she got herself dressed. Her bare feet laid in the grass, toes curling in the earth as she calmly waited. 

She watched his car pull up and park in his designated space, and she could see the confusion on his face as he got out and started walking towards her. Persephone took a long drag on her cigarette as she stood up to stand over his piles of clothes. She picked up a can of lighter fluid that she had sitting on the steps with her and began to pour the flammable liquid over his neatly folded laundry, making sure to soak it all thoroughly. 

“What the fuck are you doing, Persephone?” His tone only infuriated her more. She was amazed that he had the nerve to act as if he didn’t know exactly what she was going to do as he took in the sight of her, but she was even more amazed that he seemed to believe that she wouldn’t go through with it. He stepped towards her but stopped when her eyes met his. Aaron looked at the bruising to her face, the cuts on her cheek and lips, and he was taken aback for a moment. He had left so soon after their fight that he hadn’t realized what she would look like when he got back. Aaron stopped a few feet away from her and shoved his hands in his pockets. “We should talk, you know,” he said without meeting her eyes. He sighed and shrugged. “I’ll help you bring all of this shit inside and we can figure this out.”

Persephone simply stared at him, turning her head slightly to one side to compensate for her left eye being swollen shut. She watched him for a moment before taking one last puff on her cigarette and tossing it into the pile of clothes, instantly lighting all of his belongings on fire. 

Aaron’s jaw went slack and he looked to Persephone, but he was unable to force himself to say anything when he caught sight of her. She was standing, arms crossed, with fire reflecting in her open eye. She was truly a picture of rage, the green iris glittering with orange and red flecks. She crossed her arms over her chest and gave him a small, sickly sweet smile. 

…

Ares stood, watching from across the parking lot. He grinned as he watched the woman toss her cigarette onto the doused pile of clothing and stare down the man nearby. He could feel her, her aura heavy and infuriated, her fury wafting through the air like the scent of burnt copper. It had been a long time since he had felt the deep-seated sort of rage that Persephone was feeling, and Ares found himself intensely drawn to it. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal. 
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.


	10. Justified

Ares stared at the woman, taking in the sight of her standing over the fire at her feet, the faint mist of wrath rolling off of her and mingling with the grey smoke enveloping her as the clothes burned. He was just far enough away that he couldn’t quite hear the conversation, but he could see the male’s increasing agitation, his gestures becoming more frantic and exaggerated as he stepped closer to the woman. Ares didn’t need to know anything about the two of them to understand the dynamic that he was looking at - the combination of the male’s ever-growing anger and the woman’s rage told him clearly that there was a power struggle playing out, and judging by her face he could surmise that the dynamic had very recently shifted between the two of them. 

Ares could feel the familiar twinge of mischievous joy in his stomach as he started walking towards the two of them. War had become so impersonal and distant in the modern age, technology and the development of longer range weapons made it easier for soldiers to compartmentalize, to not have to feel the anger and rage required to kill an enemy up close and personal. But the rage of a woman who had decided to wage war on a man who had truly wronged her, a woman who wanted vengeance, had always been his favorite. He could smell it in the air, potent and intense as the emotions rolled from their auras in a misty swirl that only he could see. 

“I know I fucked up last night Persephone, I know what I did was wrong. But you know I love you! You just make me so angry sometimes and I can’t control myself. But this -” he gestured to the pile of burning clothes between the two of them, “- is over the line. What the fuck am I going to do now? Do you know how much money we are going to have to spend to replace all this shit? Because you’re having a temper tantrum?”

Ares grinned as the woman’s open eye narrowed into a fierce glare and she spoke with a chillingly low, calm voice. “We? Did you just say  _ we _ ?” 

Ares took the opportunity to step in before the situation turned into one that even he could not remedy. He stood beside her and crossed his arms, staring down at the man with a devilish grin that caused him to pale. Ares stared down at him for a moment. It always tickled him to see mortals’ reactions to his imposing, exaggerated physique. At a sharp 6’7” Ares stood at least a full head above almost every mortal he encountered; his broad shoulders were terrifyingly muscled and hinted at his ability to destroy anyone that he turned his anger on. He had a litany of small scars all over his body, but one in particular over his left eye seemed to catch the most attention. 

He placed a hand on the woman’s shoulder and looked down at her, silently communicating to simply follow his lead without protest. “I think it’s time you go in Darlin’, my boys will handle this mess.” The woman stared at him for a moment, her one good eye sparkling with a vibrant green that took him by surprise for a moment. She didn’t say anything, but she set her jaw and looked back to the man she had been fighting with for a few seconds before turning and heading up the steps to her apartment. Ares stood and stared at the man for a moment, silently daring him to follow her, before giving him a crooked grin and following the woman up the stairs. 

…

Persephone waited just inside the door of her apartment, the door cracked as she listened to the steps of the leather boots coming up her hallway. She wasn’t sure exactly how she knew, but she  _ knew _ that he wasn’t mortal and her curiosity had gotten the better of her as he had silently willed her to follow his lead and go upstairs. His presence beside her felt similar to the way that Hades always felt, powerful and mysterious. But where Hades inspired a deep feeling of comfort and safety, this new man made her feel stronger, almost powerful in her anger. 

She could hear the rumble of Harleys pull up near her building, the deafening roar unmistakable as the door opened and he stepped confidently over her threshold. Persephone folded her arms over her chest and watched as he glanced at a shadow moving in the hall behind him before he pushed the apartment door closed. He stood in front of her, looking down at her battered face with an impish grin on his boyish features. Persephone looked him up and down, taking in his blonde shoulder length hair that he kept slicked back and tucked behind his ears, his grey eyes that shone like silver, the way his grin rose higher on one side of his mouth beneath the tuft of blonde facial hair. He wore a white t shirt under his leather biker’s kutte, the president patch on the right side of his chest dirty from what looked like years of wear and abuse. His arms were muscular and defined, tattoos covering the skin of his forearms. He wore a variety of oversized but somehow fitting rings on his fingers, all adding to the confidence that rolled off him in overpowering waves with every movement, every look. 

Persephone sucked a sound in through her teeth and met his eyes, “And who are you?”

He tilted his head at her, his grin raising the left corner of his mouth a bit, crinkling the scar over his eye. “Name’s Sterling Dade. Yours?”

Her eye narrowed, “That isn’t your real name, is it?” 

His eyes twinkled with enjoyment at the shrewdness of her tone. He raised his voice a bit in a show of mock innocence, “Why on earth would I lie to you, darlin’?”

Persephone’s expression didn’t waver, she wasn’t in the mood for games. “I can tell that you aren’t mortal.” She didn’t break eye contact as she watched his eyes sharpen at her bold statement. “So, who are you really.” It wasn’t a question, it was a  _ demand _ . She had little patience at this point and she wanted a straight answer from him. 

His smile grew slowly, his lips parted slightly to show his teeth. He ran his tongue along the edge of his bottom lip and pulled his lip into his teeth as he looked her up and down. “Name’s Ares.” His eyes flitted across her face, down to the bruises on her chest, and over the marks on her arms and his smile faltered slightly. “And who, little mortal, are you?”

Persephone debated if she should tell him her name, or if she should simply demand he leave and be done with whatever it was that brought him here. But, the God of War was standing in her apartment, staring down at her, and she had questions that she knew she wouldn’t find answers to if she simply kicked him out. “Persephone,” she responded with a clipped tone. “Why are you here?” 

Ares’ brows shot up when he heard her name; he was so surprised that he hardly registered her question. “Persephone,” he mused, “like the woman Hades supposedly seduced and trapped in the Underworld?” 

Persephone frowned at how he had phrased that, the word ‘supposedly’ rolling around her mind. “Is that not Hades’ wife’s name?” 

Ares was still so caught in surprise that he didn’t seem to notice the lilt of curiosity in her voice, “Hades doesn’t have a wife. That was just some story.” He shrugged at her, “But anyway, you wanted to know why I’m here, right?” 

Persephone’s thoughts lingered for a moment on the revelation that the myth she had been named for was nothing more than a story. Of course, up until a few days before she hadn’t known that any of the myths were true, but somehow it changed the way she thought of her growing curiosity about the God of the Underworld. She forced herself to focus on Ares, on finding out why he had suddenly shown up and intervened in her plan to confront Aaron. “Yes, I do.” 

His grin returned in full force, “I came because I felt you.” The sparkle that she had noticed in his eyes before returned and she narrowed her good eye at him. “I can feel your wrath, I can smell it on you. I don’t smell rage that pure very often anymore, and you were already so close. I couldn’t help myself.” He touched his index finger to her chin, a playfully affectionate gesture that only served to annoy her. “So, I’m here to help you.” 

Persephone sighed, releasing some of the tension she had been holding and allowing her shoulders to relax. “Thanks, but I don’t need your help.” She turned and walked to the couch, flopping into the corner seat and closing the eye wasn’t already swollen shut. “Hades has already made it clear that I can summon him if I need anything.”

Ares sat in the recliner adjacent to where she was sitting on the couch and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees as he eyed Persephone. “So you’ve met the King of the Underworld?” Persephone didn’t answer, but he wasn’t deterred by her refusal to acknowledge his question. “That recluse doesn’t come up from the dark much, how did you manage that?”

Persephone didn’t bother opening her eyes, “I just tapped the ground and he came.” 

Ares’ interest in Persephone was rapidly growing, the cause for his intrigue had changed from the potency of her fury to the unusual connection that she seemed to have to the Gods. He could tell that there was something slightly different about her, something that set her apart from other mortals, but without prodding into every aspect of her life he would have no way of finding out what that was. “And how many times has he come to you?”

She sighed and shrugged, “Every time I’ve actually wanted him here.” She looked over at Ares, suddenly suspicious of his questioning. “Why do you care?”

Ares shrugged and looked around the apartment. “Don’t care really, just curious. So what are you going to do about that jackass outside?”

Persephone could feel her stomach knot with anxiety at the mention of Aaron and she fought the tears of anger and hurt that pricked at her eyes. “Why do you care what’s going on between me and Aaron?”

Ares’ grin faded and his boyish countenance suddenly turned dark and intimidating. “I know what he did.”

Persephone felt a wave of anger quickly overtake the other emotions she was feeling, she couldn’t deny that she still felt ashamed of herself for ever letting things with Aaron get to this point. And, more than anything, she couldn’t fight the embarrassment she felt at allowing anyone to see her this way. 

“Don’t do that.” Ares spoke suddenly, his voice cutting through the wave of emotions that were threatening to drown her. 

Persephone furrowed her brow at him in confusion. “Don’t do what?”

“Don’t let yourself get lost in shame over someone else’s behavior. What he did is not for you to feel shame or embarrassment over, that’s on him to feel.” He leaned closer to her, forcing her to meet his gaze, his voice laced with godly intonations. “Be angry, be indignant, hell, be hurt if you’re hurt. But  _ do not _ bury those very legitimate,  _ justified _ feelings in shame that does not belong to you.”

Persephone knew that he was right, that she was allowing herself to sink into a pool of feelings that she shouldn’t be making her own. But her defense mechanisms were already activated and she could feel the walls going up around her, isolating her so that nothing - no one - could get in. She could feel her body moving almost involuntarily, her voice working on its own despite what her mind was screaming. She stood briskly and glared down at Ares, “What the hell do you know about me? You’ve been here all of, what, twenty minutes? And you think you know what I’m feeling and how justified it is?” She walked towards the kitchen, her instincts telling her to put physical distance between herself and Ares as she attempted to solidify the emotional distance she was creating with her harsh words. 

Ares was quick to stand and follow her, unphased by the coldness in her tone. “You think being the God of War means just choosing one side or the other? It ain't that simple, sweetheart.” He didn’t let her backwards glance of annoyance deter him as he spoke to her, “War used to be about the emotions of mortals, they used to have real reasons for fighting one another. I didn’t just flip a coin and decide which side to bless based on chance, I blessed whichever side was justified in their reasons, whichever side had more legitimate anger and indignation.”

Persephone rolled her eyes as she turned back to him, “So you’re also the god of justified emotion?” She was surprised at her own attitude, she didn't sense any malintent in him but she still felt herself lashing out as her emotions desperately looked for an outlet.

Ares could feel the twinge of her anger returning, but rather than following his instinct to push her further Ares chose a more investigatory approach. He wanted to know what was actually going on between her and the guy she had been fighting with, and he needed to verify her emotions against the evidence he could see on her body. He could see the marks on her, but he had been around the earth long enough to know that it was never just a few punches in a single fit of rage - especially not when it incurred the type of wrath that seeped from Persephone’s entire being. He tilted his head and narrowed his eyes slightly, trying to look past the wall that she was putting up in an attempt to dull her emotions. “You can be sarcastic all you want, darlin’, but I know that you know what I’m talkin’ about.” 

Persephone looked at him, her discomfort increasing as she felt him trying to look past the façade and into the deeper parts of herself; the parts she wasn’t ready to face. She had no idea how much of her emotion Ares could sense, but she had the distinct feeling that lashing out at him wouldn’t stop him from seeing the pain that she was trying desperately to keep to herself. Persephone could feel a twinge of discomfort creep over her as she looked into his eyes. The glittering enjoyment she had seen earlier had been replaced by a heavy concern that he couldn’t mask with his crooked smile. 

She turned away from him in an attempt to put an end to the exchange but Ares reached out and gently grasped Persephone’s arm to keep her from walking away. Images flashed through his mind as she turned back to look at him, both of them realizing too late that he was going to see the vivid details of what Aaron had done. 

Persephone watched the anger flit across Ares’ face as floods of her memories rushed through his mind, but the expression was quickly replaced by one of surprisingly compassionate tenderness as his eyes refocused on her. 

She closed her eyes tightly and bit her lip as she gave her head a slight shake, trying to brush off the threat of hot tears that was creeping up on her. Persephone tried to pull her arm from Ares’ grip but resisted. Instead, he gently pulled her to him and wrapped his arms around her, bringing her tightly into his chest. She inhaled sharply, her senses suddenly flooded with the scent of leather and cinnamon. “I didn’t ask for a hug,” she rasped as she tried to pull out of his embrace. “Get  _ off _ of me.”

“I am not  _ hugging _ you,” he said against the top of her head. “I’m holding you together so that you don’t fall to pieces.”

Persephone felt a tear escape down her cheek as she stopped resisting his hold. Despite having just met him, he felt safe, his arms firm and comforting, providing her a safe, anonymous place to release the raw emotion that she had been swallowing as she struggled throughout the day. She was unsure why, but the embrace of the God that she had just met felt like the safest place in the world for her to release the tears and anguish that bubbled within her. For a moment, Ares was a calm place in the center of the storm within her.

Ares felt her relax in his arms as a sob escaped her chest. The raw intensity of her emotions washed over him as he let her use him as a physical support and an emotional outlet. He set his jaw as he observed her sadness and her fear, her anguish and fury, her shame and her insecurity. It rolled over them like storm clouds bringing a hurricane, penetrating his hard exterior as she trembled with the rush of emotions. Ares’ lips pressed together in a thin line and, as Persephone broke down in the safety of his embrace, he decided to do everything in his power to help her battle  the man who was intent to completely break her under the guise of love. Articles of war have been drafted for far less over the years.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal. 
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.


	11. She Can’t Be Alone

Hades stood in his study, a snifter of brandy in his hand as he stared at the shelf of books in front of him. He had designed the room to look reminiscent of traditional studies built in the early 20th century, lining the walls with bookshelves made of petrified wood and setting a matching desk in the middle of the room. The shelves were covered in books from all ages - some he had brought from the mortal realm, some were otherworldly tomes written by the scribes of the dead, many held information that would be detrimental if let out of the Underworld. The floor was decadently laid lava rocks, set in intricate swirling patterns that mimicked the flow of molten rock moving across the earth, and had a faint red glow that suggested the rocks were still fresh and hot beneath his feet. His eyes passed over the row of books, barely registering the spines made of leather, wood, animal pelts, one even bound in human skin that he had acquired a few thousand years ago. The smell of leather was unmistakable, wafting from the bookshelves and the plush leather armchairs around the desk, mingling with the smell of his brandy as he stood, lost in his own thoughts.

He looked through the archway carved in the natural rock formations as he heard Hecate’s heels clicking down the hall. She arched a brow at him as she entered his study and she glanced behind her through the archway to make sure that no other beings were lingering nearby. He rarely called her to his study, often favoring to do all of his business in the judgment hall rather than bring anyone else into his personal space. Hades looked her up and down as she crossed the room, unsurprised at the crisp lines of her well fitted black suit, her grey button up shirt, and the thin black tie that she was adjusting as she moved towards him. The only thing feminine about her was her long black hair that fell down her back like a silken waterfall and the too-tall high heels that she insisted on wearing. Her black suit offset her skin in an unsettling way, making the faint blue of her skin look almost translucent in the lights that bounced off of the impossibly high walls of the Underworld. It was impossible for Hades’ gaze not to wander over her pronounced cheekbones for a moment before his gaze fell on her glowing, amber eyes. 

Hecate tossed her hair over her shoulder and tilted her head slightly as she looked up at Hades. “You sent for me?” 

Hades sighed heavily and stepped towards his desk, he slid Persephone’s Fates File across the wood top and tapped it lightly with his finger. “I need you to look into this for me.” 

Hecate gave him a slight frown, she couldn’t remember the last time he had concerned himself with a Fates File, let alone ask her for help in dealing with whatever it contained. She closed the gap between herself and Hades in a few brisk steps, leaning over his desk as she flipped the file open and scanned the name. Her frown deepened as her eyes skimmed over the bold letters reading “UNKNOWN” at the bottom of the first page of the file. She looked up at Hades, confusion shadowing her features, “Hades, who is this?”

Of course, she had read the name, that wasn’t what she was asking of him. He took a sip of his brandy and considered for a moment how to answer her. He knew that an honest answer would only lead to more questions, but Hecate was shrewd and discerning and certainly wouldn’t help him if she felt he was being dishonest. “She’s a mortal that has managed to summon me multiple times. I’m interested in finding out more about this file.” It wasn’t a lie, only a simple omission of the emotions that he was feeling. He didn’t want to discuss the logistics of the Gods becoming involved the lives of mortals until he knew exactly what the information - or lack thereof - in Persephone’s Fates File meant. 

Hecate stared at him for a moment, fully aware that he wasn’t telling her everything. But her concern over an unknown fate overshadowed her urge to prod Hades for more information about this mortal that he had suddenly chosen to look into. She sighed and nodded at him, “I’ll see what I can do.” She slid the file off the desk, and turned to leave as she scanned the rest of the information. She stopped when she saw one of the names printed in the file, her ichor ran cold and she looked back at Hades. “Do you have anything else you need from me today?”

Hades shook his head as he swirled the brandy in the crystal snifter, warming it slightly in his hand. “Just that file.”

Hecate nodded and flipped the file closed before tucking it under her arm. “I need to leave, but I will take care of this.”

Hades arched a brow at her but simply nodded. He knew better than to press Hecate for information that she wasn’t ready to offer. Her gift as a seer made her seem evasive and secretive but she hadn’t failed him yet and he had developed a deep sense of trust in her. He watched silently as she turned on her heel, her long hair swinging across her shoulders with the fluid movement, and strode quickly from his study. 

…

Ares stood, leaning against the doorframe of the kitchen, watching Persephone move back and forth in the small space. She had been silent for a while, refusing to utter a word after he had finally released her from his embrace. Her aura felt mournful rather than angry or annoyed, but he had no idea what she was thinking to inspire such melancholy. He had watched her keep herself busy for hours, silently moving from room to room, refusing to make eye contact with him. 

Without warning, Persephone set down the knife she had been using to cut vegetables and she laid her palms flat on the counter. “Are you just going to watch me all night, or are you going to leave at some point?” She still refused to look at him, her gaze focused on the cutting board in front of her. He could hear the insecurity in her voice, the slight waver in her tone suggesting to him that she was still on the verge of tears. 

He tilted his head as he took a moment to silently consider her - to consider the emotions he felt rolling off of her. “I’ll leave when I believe that you’re okay, Darlin’.”

She sighed and glanced over at him, “I am _fine_ , Ares.”

“No, you’re not.” He stepped closer to her and gently laid his hand on top of hers, trying to comfort her without causing her to cry again. “And I’m not leavin’ you alone until you are.”

She rolled her eyes and her tone carried a hint of growing annoyance, “Ares, I can’t -” Persephone went silent as she looked at him, frozen by the sight of black tendrils of smoke lurking around him. 

Ares frowned at the change of her expression, staring at her briefly before looking down at his feet to see billows of smoke enveloping him from the ground up. _Shit_ , he thought to himself, _why does he need to summon me to the Underworld now?_ Ares looked at Persephone, her eyes wide with what he imagined was a terrifying sight for a mortal. _She can’t be alone right now_. Ares realized he was running out of time to decide what to do and he acted on his first impulse. He grabbed Persephone, probably rougher than he had intended, and pulled her against him so that her back was to his chest and his arms were wrapped around her upper body. 

The smoke quickly enveloped them, surrounding them with a void that always made his chest tighten. The anxiety that Ares already felt simply from answering a summons doubled as he realized what he had just done. _Mortals can’t be taken to the Underworld until they’re dead. I’ve just killed her_. Ares tightened his grip, making sure he could still feel the breath in her frail body as they floated involuntarily between realms.

After what seemed like an eternity the darkness fell away from them and the tendrils of smoke retreated into the stone walls of the Underworld. Ares immediately turned Persephone around and held her at arm's length, fully expecting to be holding her soulless body. He breathed a sigh of relief and hung his head for a brief moment as his eyes met hers and she blinked at him in surprise and confusion. 

Her voice was small but clear in the huge hall, “What just happened?”

He shook his head at her, disbelief overshadowing any ability he had to form a sensible, coherent sentence as he looked at her. His silver eyes searched over her body for any signs of disturbance or injury, but she looked the same as she had in her apartment. Ares was bewildered, his mind racing as he tried to think of any reason that she would have been able to come through the portal sent by the King of the Underworld. “Are you okay, does anything hurt?” She shook her head as she stared up at the panic that had settled on his boyish features. “How the fuck are you here, Persephone? How did you do that?”

She shook her head, unable to comprehend exactly what had just happened. She opened her mouth to respond but the sound of a death knell ringing through the stone halls caught their attention and silenced them both. 

Ares let go of her arms and stood at full height, he ran his hand down his face and muttered an obscenity that Persephone couldn’t quite hear. He had to appear in Hades’ court, he had been summoned to stand before the King of the Underworld and he knew that the Underworld would drag him before Hades by force if he refused to go willingly. He looked down at Persephone, still bewildered at the fact that she, a mortal, was alive in the Underworld. He took her firmly by the elbow and pulled her close to his side as he began walking, “Stay close to me, this is goin’ to be a shit show.” 

Persephone could hear the stress and worry in his voice but she was distracted by the gorgeous halls that he was leading her down. She marvelled at the floor, the way it twisted and curved around itself like lava flowing from the mouth of a volcano, seemingly still alive with the dull glow of heat behind the stones. The halls had impossibly tall, vaulted ceilings held up by walls of jagged, natural rock that looked like the massive caves that she had seen in the mortal realm. Every now and then the walls were adorned with beautiful stalagmites and stalactites, glittering with what looked like a variety of precious stones that reflected dots of colored lights across the expanse of the hall. Persephone was breathless with the beauty of it, unable to focus on the path that Ares was dragging her down as she lost herself in the unmistakable glory of the Underworld. She couldn’t mistake the smell of the earth, just like the caves that she had gotten lost in when she was a child. The air was heavy and damp, but smelled of soil and earth resting atop the cool scent of the rocks surrounding them.

Finally they stopped in front of a pair of massive granite doors and Ares looked down at her, “Please just stay close , let me do the talkin'. I have no idea how this is possible but you bein’ here is going to stir up some shit, Darlin’.”

She tugged at her arm, trying to loosen his grip on her elbow so that she wasn’t standing quite so close to him, “Me being _where_ , Ares? What are you talking about?”

Ares’ stared into her eyes for a moment, his silver irises as sharp as the edge of a blade. “You’re in the Underworld, Sweetheart.” He let go of Persephone’s elbow and tucked her hand into his arm, “Please keep your hand on me. I don’t want it to look like I dragged you down here -”

“You sort of did…” She mumbled at him as she gripped his arm.

He gave her a wry smile and continued, “I need to feel you with me so that I know you’re safe without havin’ to watch you every second. Just -” He looked at her with concern in his piercing eyes, “Please do as I say, Persephone.”

She nodded solemnly as she realized the gravity of the situation, it occurred to her that he wasn’t sure that he could keep her safe here. It was unnerving to see the confidence that had annoyed her so much completely stripped from him for her sake. Ares gave her a small nod and turned to the doors, she gave his arm a reassuring squeeze as he effortlessly pushed the massive stone doors open to reveal a magnificent room. 

Persephone walked with Ares as she looked around at the walls, adorned with patterns of sparkling, colored stones laid into the naturally formed rock. She could hear whispers as Ares led them down the center of the room towards the massive throne that sat at the end of the hall. She looked down the hall, desperately trying to ignore the myriad of beings eyeing her from the sides of the room, and her eyes fell on Hades sitting on his throne, looking down at a file of papers. Her breath caught in her throat and she instantly felt dizzy, the reality of where she was seemed to hit her in that moment and her steps faltered. Ares didn’t stop, but he laid his free hand on top of hers, sandwiching her fingers between his forearm and his hand and giving her a light squeeze of encouragement. 

Hades glanced up as they got closer and she could see his already pale complexion turn ashy as his eyes fell on her. Hades’ stood and immediately flew down the platform that his throne sat on, his stride impossibly long as he hurried to meet them in the center of the long room. 

“What the hell is she doing here,” Hades spat at Ares. “How did you get her here?” Hades closed his eyes for a moment and he shook his head, “Ares, you know damn well mortals do not survive the trip here, what the hell have you _done?_ ”

Ares looked up at Hades, at a full seven foot tall, Hades was still a head taller than Ares and it made him look especially menacing in this moment. Ares spoke quietly and calmly, trying not to give the already buzzing room anything more to talk about. “We should discuss this somewhere more private, Uncle. She’s already a spectacle here.”

Ares’ quiet voice seemed to calm Hades for a moment as he considered his suggestion and nodded. "My study is through the doors to the left of the throne,” Hades gestured to them and then looked down at Persephone with concern, “take her in there and wait for me.” Ares nodded and quickly led Persephone in the direction he had gestured, rushing past the Furies staring at Persephone with impossibly large, haunting eyes. 

…

Hades burst in through the doors of his study, his eyes immediately fell to Ares who was leaning against his desk with arms crossed over his chest. Hades glanced down at Persephone, sitting in one of the armchairs with her back to him. “What the hell did you do, Ares?”

Ares raised a brow at him, understanding the panic and anger coursing through Hades as he tried to make sense of Persephone’s presence in his realm. “I didn’t do anythin’, at least not that I know of.” He glanced down at Persephone and then back to Hades, “I couldn’t leave her alone, and then you summoned me. I grabbed her without thinkin’. I don’t know what the hell happened, Uncle.”

Hades forced himself to take a deep breath, reminding himself that there was no way that Ares could have manipulated this on his own. He made a mental note to inform Hecate, as he had already tasked her with figuring out what was going on with Persephone. But his thoughts quickly turned back to what Ares had just said, “What do you mean, you couldn’t leave her alone?”

Ares rolled his eyes, the privacy of the study allowing him to drop the formalities with his uncle. Sarcasm was heavy in his voice as he responded, “Your powers of observation never fail to impress me.” Hades stepped closer to Persephone and looked down at her. His eyes glowed crimson as he took in the sight of her; his eyes roamed over the split skin on her cheek and the obviously fresh bruises on the base of her throat and her arms. He looked back at Ares, their expressions matched with anger and concern. Ares shrugged and spoke quietly, “She’s not okay. I won’t leave her alone right now.”

Hades nodded and handed Ares the file that he had been holding, “I need you to retrieve someone for my personal judgment. I won’t allow any more of his crimes in the Mortal Realm, it's time he stood before me. It shouldn’t take you long.”

Ares glanced down at the file and then looked at Persephone. His eyes hardened as he looked back to Hades, “I’ll take care of this but I have a condition this time, Uncle.” Hades raised a brow, surprised at Ares’ boldness. “Stay with her until I get back, do not leave her alone.”

Hades stared at Ares with hard eyes for a moment, the red hue flaring as he considered Ares’ demand. But when his gaze fell back to Persephone his eyes slowly returned to their pale blue and he relaxed his shoulders. He knew that he couldn’t have denied this request even if he had wanted to. “She can stay with me until you return. We’ll sort this out after I've judged the soul.”

Ares nodded and folded the file so he could slip it inside of his leather kutte for safe keeping. He looked down at Persephone and laid a hand on her shoulder. She looked up and gave him a small nod, assuring him that it was okay to leave, he gave her shoulder a small squeeze before quickly leaving. 

Hades watched Ares disappear before he knelt in front of Persephone, he was so tall that even on his knees in front of her, he was still at least a head above her. She spoke almost immediately, desperate to break the intensity of the silence between them as he looked at her. “I - I wanted to say thank you. I planned to call for you but Ares…”

He shook his head at her explanation. “That’s okay,” he said softly. “What are you thanking me for?”

She bit her lip, fighting tears as memories of the emergency room flooded back to her. “For taking me to the hospital. I don’t think I can explain how thankful I am to you for that. You made me take a step towards…” Her words drifted off as she tried to articulate the thoughts in her mind. He was always so distracting, looking at him seemed to silence every thought in her head and make it impossible for her to focus on any coherent string of words. She sighed and looked away from him for a moment before trying again. “I wouldn’t have gone if it weren’t for you, I never would have filed a report. So… Thank you.”

“Persephone,” she looked back at him as he softly said her name, “I would do anything to help you.” His hauntingly pale eyes were captivating, making it impossible for Persephone to look away as she fell further under his spell. Hades stared at her, the compassion and pain in his eyes bright and entrancing as he looked over the damage done to her face. He lifted his hand in a move to reach out to touch her cheek, but he stopped and pulled back before he made contact with her skin. He looked at her, drinking in the intensity of her green eyes, unable to ignore the one eye that was just barely able to open as she looked at him. He took a moment to consider whether or not she would even want him touching her, so he asked gently, “May I?” 

Persephone nodded slowly and held her breath as he slowly reached out to her and cupped her battered cheek tenderly in his hand. She watched as his eyes darkened, going starry as he watched her memories of what Aaron had done playing out in his mind. She could see the red creeping into the edges of his eyes as his muscles tensed, but she was careful not to move until his eyes began to return to the blue that she was so enthralled by and he took in a deep breath.

A tear slipped from his eye and Persephone’s graze followed its trail down his cheek and over his jaw. “Why didn’t you summon me?”

Persephone gave him a weak smile and rested her hand on the back of his, taking a moment to savor the comforting touch. It had been so long since anyone had touched her so tenderly, with so much kindness. Persephone wanted to memorize the feeling before it disappeared again. “I didn’t want anyone to see me like this. I mean,” she paused and forced a small laugh in an attempt to ease the tension around them, “I look pretty amazing, don’t I?”

Hades returned her smile but he couldn’t hide the sadness that had settled on his features. “You look…” He shook his head as his eyes moved across her face and down her body, “You look sufficient.” He gave her a small, reassuring smile and prayed that his attempt at lightening the mood came across in his tone.

Persephone stared at him for a moment, a smile slowly spreading over her lips before she burst out in real laughter, the sound filling his study with an unexpected warmth that was unfamiliar to the Underworld. Persephone stopped after a moment and stared at Hades, her eyes filled with something he couldn’t identify. She sighed and flung her arms around his neck, hugging his massive frame in an impulsive moment of fondness and appreciation, unable to think of another way to show him how much that moment meant to her in light of everything that had happened in her life recently. 

Hades stiffened as her body rested against his, the soft skin of her hands cradling the back of his neck as she held herself close to him. He couldn’t remember the last time someone had touched him like this, with energy that was so incredibly kind and pure. Even Minthe, who knew every way possible to touch him after a few centuries of sleeping together, couldn’t invoke such a warm, inviting feeling in him. Hades softened, releasing the tension in his body, and gently brought his hands around Persephone’s back to hold her gently against his chest. 

…

Hades sat at his desk, alone in his study after sending Persephone back to the mortal realm with Ares. He was so lost in thought that he didn’t hear Hecate approach his desk, he was completely unaware of her presence until she had dropped Persephone’s file and a fresh report on the desk in front of him and sat down in the chair across from him. 

He had a bad feeling about the frown on Hecate’s face, he almost didn’t want to ask what could be causing the look of worry that was staring back at him. “Well, did you find anything out about this ‘blessing’ that's interfering with her fate?”

Hecate shook her head and slid the file towards Hades, “It isn’t a blessing, Hades, it's a curse.” The stone wall behind him caught her attention and confusion blanketed her features. “Hades, is that moss growing on your wall?”

Hades’ eyes snapped to Hecate, his expression mirroring hers, and he turned to look behind him. The grey stone wall at the back of his office was suddenly covered in tiny patches of moss growing on the stone. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal. 
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.


	12. It’s okay to feel it.

_Persephone ran through the trees - barely able to focus on each one she passed - as fast as her bare feet would take her across the forest floor. The canopy above her was thick, the sun breaking through the small holes in the clusters of leaves in long streams of light that illuminated the forest around her. She was hopelessly lost, the man-made path long forgotten as panic coursed through her body. She stopped and looked around her, turning in a circle as she desperately looked for any indication of what direction she should be running in. The silence of the forest was deafening as she strained her ears for any sign of where he was. She knew he was there. Hiding in the trees. Following her. Waiting for his chance to strike, waiting to catch her off guard for the most effective attack possible. They had been here before, and she had yet to escape him._

_Her eyes went wide as she heard the snap of a twig to her left, her eyes flew to the direction of the echoing sound and she saw a shadow move between the trees. Persephone let out a small cry of fear as she took off to the right, her instincts screaming at her to move in the opposite direction, to put as much distance between her and that shadow as possible. She could hear him behind her now, his footsteps just as loud as hers as he got closer. She could feel him, his energy causing panic to rise in her throat, making it difficult to breathe as she tried to run faster. She was his prey, and he was hunting her, seeking her out for a thrill before he let her go so that she could hide from him again. He would seek her out like a wolf hunting a rabbit, and then he would start the game all over again, keeping Persephone in an endless loop of fear and panic for his entertainment._

_Her eyes widened as she came upon a felled tree, too big to leap over and too low to the ground to crawl beneath. She scrambled to climb up the massive tree, knowing that she needed to get over it as quickly as possible as he closed in on her. The bark was rough, scraping against her skin as a painful reminder of the consequences of being caught. She lifted herself up on her arms, preparing to pull her legs up to the top of the monstrous tree trunk, when she felt his hand clamp down around her ankle._

_Persephone gasped in shock as he roughly pulled her down, the bark of the tree scraping down her front, her shirt catching on the jagged edges and pulling up to her chest to expose her stomach to the unforgiving texture cutting into her skin. His hands caught her by the shoulders as she fell to the ground, turning her to face him before slamming her back into the tree trunk. Persephone let out a breathless scream as his grip tightened on her and her hands flew up in front of her face in an attempt to protect herself._

Persephone woke to the sound of her own screaming, cold sweat clinging to her skin and making her shirt stick unpleasantly to her chest and back. She gasped for air as she fought to bring herself out of the nightmare and back to the present. Her thoughts scrambled as she desperately tried to remember how to ground herself in reality, her head spinning as she realized she could still feel the cold grip of Aaron’s hand on her ankle, as if he could still pull her back into the nightmare. 

Before she could fully wake herself from the vivid dream, Persephone felt a pair of huge, strong arms wrap around her, the bed shifting behind her with the weight of another person as she was pulled against the rock hard body. Persephone flinched at the touch, her body tense and quivering with fear at the sudden contact. She had forgotten that she wasn’t alone; her mind hadn’t yet caught up to itself as she slowly came out of the dream and the realization that Ares was still in her apartment dawned on her. She felt the tension ease around them as she relaxed slightly, hesitant to fully accept his embrace. 

His deep voice filled her ears, the low rumble of his calming words reverberating in her chest. “I’ve got you, Darlin’, I told you I won’t leave ‘til you’re okay.” Persephone choked on a heavy sob as he tightened his arms around her, enveloping her in his warm embrace. His arms felt strange, foreign in the way he held her against his chest, but there was a sense of relief and comfort in the safety he was offering her. Tears slipped down her cheeks as she struggled to maintain control of her breathing, emotions swelled in her chest as she failed to keep them from spilling over. She fought desperately to maintain control, ashamed of the inevitable vulnerability she was bound to show as he held her. “It’s alright to feel it, I’m not goin’ anywhere,” he gave her a light squeeze and lowered his voice to a soothing whisper. “I won’t let you fall apart, Persephone.” 

His tone was gruff and hard as he said her name, but she couldn’t mistake the kindness underneath; the tender concern shown for her by the deadliest man she’d ever encountered completely undid her. Harsh sobs overtook her, wracking her body with the force of her grief and anger. She cried until she was breathless, gasping for air as her body shook with the weight of the release that had overtaken her. The force of her tears was dizzying, making it impossible for her to form a coherent thought as what little strength she was clinging to shattered around her. Ares patiently held her, his arms gripping her tightly as if she were a puzzle that could literally fall to pieces if he slackened his hold. He moved his thumb gently up and down her upper arm, caressing her softly without loosening his embrace, making some small attempt to comfort her as he held her through her tears. The release of anger, sadness, and disbelief crashed over her like ocean waves breaking against a rock wall, the force of each wave shattering her all over again. 

Ares gently rocked her back and forth, talking softly into the darkness in an attempt to ground her through the onslaught of emotions. He had seen this before, the complete break of a woman’s heart as the full realization of her feelings overwhelmed her. He knew that there was nothing either of them could do to temper the agonizing sorrow that was drowning her. She was simply going to have to ride it out and allow herself to feel it until her mind was through the worst of it. 

Persephone gripped his forearms as she sobbed uncontrollably, clinging to him as if he were the only thing keeping her from getting lost in her own darkness. She felt the strength of the emotions start to ebb, her breath came in less painful bursts and her chest lightened. It happened slowly, but it was as if Ares' voice was a light guiding her through the dark tunnel of her breakdown and she could finally see the other side. She took in a deep, yearning breath, forcing her lungs to fill with air so that her vision would clear and she could focus on the world around her again. She could hear Ares’ voice clearly, the deep baritone penetrating the fog of emotions that had been clouding her mind as she broke down in his arms. 

“I’m not goin’ anywhere, sweetheart. Just breathe, I’ve got you.” 

“Ares…” She whispered his name, as if testing her voice as she came back down to earth. 

She could hear the surprise in his tone as she finally responded to him, “What is it, Darlin’? What do you need?”

She took a deep, shuddering breath and closed her eyes as she loosened her grip on his forearms. “I need you to let go of me.” 

He chuckled against her ear, the vibrations of his laughter resonating in her chest in an oddly comforting way. “Not just yet, Sweetheart. I know what I’m doing, just trust me.” Persephone tried to stiffen herself in an effort to signal to him that she was truly ready to be let go, but her body betrayed her and she sat slumped against his chest, physically exhausted from the all-encompassing breakdown that just ripped through her. She could feel him sigh as he settled his arms comfortably around her, loosening his grasp but not releasing her yet. “You should talk about it,” he said quietly. “I know it’s rough, but it’ll help, Darlin’.”

Persephone was quiet for a moment, thinking about the nightmare that had shaken her so badly. She knew Ares was right, that talking about it was likely the best way to handle it. But she had spent so long closing in on herself as a form of self-preservation that it was difficult to just let down those walls and blindly trust that he had no ulterior motives in gaining her confidence. She sighed, resigned to the fact that Ares was probably the safest being in existence to talk about this with, at least for the moment. “It’s just…” She spoke quietly, unsure if her voice would work as she opened herself up to him. “I used to love the forest. I used to find the trees so calming and serene. It was like my safe place. We used to go for hikes and just let ourselves get lost, enjoying the way everything got thicker, rougher, _more alive_ as you got farther off the hiking trails.”

“We?” He asked softly, not wanting to assume to know who she was talking about. 

She sighed again, her breath heavy with contemplation and lingering sadness, “Me and Aaron.” She could feel Ares nod, silently acknowledging her as he listened. “We used to spend a lot of time out in the woods when we first got together. But then, as things got worse, we went less and less. And when we did go, it felt less and less safe. At some point he stopped walking beside me and started walking behind me, like he was always watching me. He was always waiting for me to do something he could be angry at. Like a cat playing with a mouse, he would give me some freedom only to hunt me down again later. And then, at some point, we just stopped going…” She trailed off, losing her voice as she recounted the subtle changes that had led her to the point she found herself at with her relationship. 

“You were screaming.” Ares said quietly.

Persephone turned her head to him in surprise and confusion, glancing at him from the corner of her eye. “What? When?”

“While you were asleep,” he said, “you were screaming. Is that what you were dreaming about? The forest?”

She was quiet, searching for the right words to describe the terrifying nightmare that still gripped her like a cold hand trying to squeeze the breath from her lungs. “I was running from him.” Her voice was small, uncertain as she shared the details that suddenly didn’t seem like they should have been quite so frightening. “He was hiding in the trees, toying with me as he literally hunted me down. I was just - just running. Like the only thought I had was this panicked need to put as much distance between us as possible, but no matter how far I ran I just couldn’t get away from him. He was always lurking behind a tree, or somewhere nearby. And then the path I was running was blocked, and he grabbed me as I was trying to climb over this giant tree. I just knew if I could get over that tree trunk, he wouldn’t be able to get to me, but he dragged me back down to him.”

“And that’s when you started screaming.” It wasn’t a question. He understood the fear that lingered deep inside of her, and he understood she still felt trapped in those overpowering emotions that she was nowhere near ready to let go of. 

She nodded slowly, flashes of the nightmare crossing her mind as she silently reminded herself to keep breathing. “It...wasn’t always like that with him.”

She could feel him let out a slow exhale, his chest rising and then deflating against her as he silently decided the best direction to take the conversation now that she had gone silent. “Okay,” he said carefully, “So what was it like, Persephone, in the beginning? Tell me the whole story. Beginning to end.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way, please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal. 
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.


	13. To the Skin

_ Persephone stood with her friends, tightly nestled into the circle of girls bunched together near the center of the room. Despite the party surrounding them, the intensely crowded room that seemed to shift around them rather than forcing them to move, she felt as if it were only them in the room. She was able to filter out the noise of the party to focus on the jokes and musings of her friends, completely in her element as the room around them teemed with restlessness and chaotic energy.  _

_ Persephone vaguely noticed a man hovering at the edge of her vision as her friend nudged her and nodded in his direction. He stood just across the room, engaged in conversation with another woman but unable to pull his gaze from her. She could feel his eyes on her as she focused on her friends, his attention creeping into her realm of consciousness as a storm cloud creeps into an afternoon sky. She tried to banish the feel of him from her mind, but he clung to her outer perimeter, stubbornly refusing to be forgotten amidst the rest of the crowd. Persephone couldn’t stop herself from glancing over at him, immediately met with slight tilt of his head in her direction and a grin that sent a shiver up her spine and caused her thoughts to race. She immediately pulled her gaze from his, breaking eye contact with a nervous urgency that none of her friends seemed to notice.  _

_ As the night continued and the crowd in the room seemed to filter in and out, he stayed within her line of sight, as if he was determined to offer that same suspiciously charming smile at even the slightest of glances in his direction. His determination to get her attention was clear and loud, as obvious as if he had stood up on a table and shouted at her. It didn’t take long for her friends to notice it as well, and they quickly took to nudging Persephone with light elbows to her sides and encouraging him with playful giggles as they whispered to one another. Persephone’s insistence that she was uninterested fell on deaf ears, the excitement of such blatant flirting from a guy none of them knew overtaking the group’s usual air of casual disinterest. While her interest in the guy was minimal, Persephone found herself incredibly entertained by her friends’ outrageous attempts to convince her to go talk to him, his unintended effect on them providing far more entertainment for her than  _ he _ possibly could.  _

_ His distanced attempts at exchanges continued until Persephone separated herself from the group, venturing out on her own in search of a restroom in the unfamiliar house. Persephone saw him follow as she slipped out of the main room that they had all been in, not even bothering to excuse himself from the group of people he had been talking to. She wandered down the hallway, peeking in each open door, knowing that eventually she would find what she was looking for despite the fact that she could feel him following her, gaining purchase as he lengthened his stride in an effort to catch up to her. Persephone finally found the door she was looking for and slipped into the bathroom, quickly closing the door behind her as she sensed him getting closer. She leaned against the bathroom door, her back pressed against the cold wood as she leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Persephone couldn’t explain the strange mix of anxiety and excitement as she felt him following her, the promise of mischief in his grin lingering at the forefront of her mind. Her heartbeat accelerated, pounding hard and fast in her chest as she tried to gather her thoughts and decide what she was going to do about the man waiting for her outside the door.  _

_ Persephone chose to take her time, determined that she would take long enough that he would get the hint and realize that she was actively avoiding him. After she felt she had sufficiently wasted enough time, confident that there was no way that  _ anyone _ would still be waiting for someone they had never met, Persephone fluffed her hair and made sure her makeup was still perfect, knowing that her friends wouldn’t fail to point out any slip in her appearance upon her return, and she smiled as she swung the bathroom door open with a renewed pride and confidence. She glanced around the hall and her smile widened, sure that he had taken the hint and her point had been made. Persephone flipped her hair over her shoulder as her confidence bubbled, strangely proud of having artfully avoided his pointed attention.  _

_ Just as Persephone got to the end of the hall and rounded the corner to the main room of the house, headed in the direction of her friends, he appeared in front of her with that same grin that had given her shivers the first time she had made eye contact with him. His body blocked hers, strategically standing between Persephone and her friends as he looked down at her with pride and intrigue. “If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you’ve been avoiding me all night.” _

_ Persephone felt a wave of goosebumps ricochet down her body, as if caused by the carrying depth of his voice as he stood in front of her. She gave her head a slight tilt, flashing him a coy smile as she steeled herself against the flutter of her stomach as his honey eyes watched her intently. Her lips quirked in a small smile as she looked up at him, “I was. Now if you’ll excuse me, my friends are waiting for me.”  _

_ Persephone stepped to move around him, aiming to return to the giggling group of girls that were watching them, but he reached up and rested his hand on the wall beside her head, blocking her exit with his arm as he leaned into her, “I think they can see that you’re having a nice conversation. I’ve seen you guys giggling all night, looking at me and biting your lip.” He lowered his voice an octave, forcing Persephone to turn her head and lean in to him ever so slightly. "You've been flirting with me all night, don't act like you didn't want this.”  _

_ She stopped, unsure of what to think of the way that he took control of the moment and asserted himself in order to keep her attention on him. She eyed him with a raised brow, the slight smile on her lips tensing as she decided how she was going to react to him. The scent of whatever he had been drinking all night filled her nostrils, making her dizzy with the mixture of hard liquor and cologne that she could almost taste in the back of her throat as he moved closer to her. “I’m sorry, I really should get back-” _

_ “Come on,” he reached up with his other hand and ran his hand lightly through her hair, looping his forefinger around one of her curls as he let the tips of his fingers graze the side of her neck. “Just have a drink with me, talk to me. Give me a chance to show you I’m a good guy.”  _

_ She sighed as she softened a bit, his touch in her hair felt comfortable and soothing, reassuring her that one drink truly couldn’t hurt. She nodded slightly, her smile relaxing as he grazed his thumb lightly along her jaw. “One drink,” she said as her smile widened, his honey brown eyes glistening as they looked into hers.  _

Persephone shook her head, closing her eyes tightly as she tried to banish the memories from her mind. She shrugged Ares’ arms off of her and sighed, “the rest of it doesn’t matter, I  _ knew _ he felt off when I first saw him. I spent the whole night ignoring him and I went against my better judgment. I let my friends push me into talking to someone just because he wouldn’t stop smiling at me.” She climbed off the bed and pulled a sweater on over her tank top, warding off the chill of the night air with the soft fleece that lay gently over her skin. Out of the corner of her eye, Persephone saw Ares slowly stand but she didn’t stop to look at him as she set her jaw in determination and walked quickly down the hall to the bathroom. She could hear him following, his heavy footsteps falling into pace with hers as he silently observed the urgency of her stride and the rigidity of her spine. 

She left the bathroom door open, leaving the space for Ares to lean against the doorframe with his arms crossed over his chest, his grey eyes sharp as he watched her slam her hands on the porcelain sink and take a steadying breath before she looked in the mirror. He cocked a brow as she looked up to meet her own eyes in the mirror. She could open them both now, the swelling on her left eye having gone down and leaving nothing but an unnaturally vibrant blue and purple bruise that covered nearly half of her face, so dark that it almost hid the sharp split down the middle of her cheek. “You probably need stitches darlin’, I can take you to the ER.”

“No.” Her voice was harsh, sharp as she quickly shut down the idea. 

“It could get infected.”

Persephone shot him a look that could have set fire to snow, her bright green eyes suddenly alight with that same fury he had seen as she confronted Aaron in front of their apartment building. “I am  _ not _ going back to the ER. If you don’t have anything helpful to suggest then leave.” 

Ares grinned at her sudden outburst, a part of him flickering to life as the sharp turn of her anger flooded his senses, sending a shimmer of light through his eyes as he grinned at her. “While I do love that anger, it’s best saved for its intended target, doll.” He shrugged at her and forced his shoulders to relax as the wave of her anger ebbed, “it’s your choice, but it’s going to scar if you leave don’t get it closed.” 

Persephone turned back to the mirror, trailing a finger lightly down her cheek. “Let it scar.” Her voice was low, so quiet that Ares almost couldn’t hear her, but there was no question in her tone and he could quickly tell that she had made up her mind. Her hand moved from her cheek to her hair, running her fingers lightly through the pink locks at her temple as she stared at herself intently, her eyes seeming to search her reflection for some unseen part of herself that she was determined to find. She narrowed her eyes as she tugged lightly at her hair, glaring at herself as her lips tightened into a thin line. She pulled harder and harder until she had her fist wrapped in her hair and she was pulling with a force that brought stinging tears to her eyes. 

Ares closed the distance between them in two short strides and pushed himself between her and the mirror, his hand gently closing around her wrist to pull her grip away from her hair as his other hand rested heavily on her shoulder. The weight of his hand snapped her back to the present - back to him - and served as an anchor that kept her still in the heavy winds that were whipping within her. “Stop.” His voice was firm but gentle, his quiet tone almost soothing as he gently held her by the wrist. She stared at him for a long moment, her emerald green eyes defiantly surveying the silver irises staring back at her. 

She took a deep breath and firmly pulled her wrist from his grip, “Ares, move.” His eyes narrowed so slightly that it was almost unrecognizable. After a moment of staring at one another, her eyes challenging him to stay in her way for another moment, Ares relented and stepped to the side. Persephone immediately opened the medicine cabinet and pulled a pair of scissors from the grooming kit on the top shelf. Ares’ eyebrows shot up as she pulled a chunk of her hair away from her face and quickly chopped it off, leaving hanging at the same length as her chin. Her breath hitched in her throat for a moment as she froze, staring at herself in the mirror as she surveyed the damage she had just done to her hair. She dropped the fistful of long, pink curls to the ground, not caring as they cascaded around her feet and drifted across the tile, as if suddenly free to roam. Persephone let out an audible sigh, her chest heaving with the force of the breath she hadn’t realized she had been holding. She quickly pulled at another chunk of her hair, snipping in the same place as the first, quickly making her way around her head until her face was framed with a bouncing mass of pink curls that brought attention to the heart shape of her face and easy curve of the faint smile that was playing on her lips. 

Her smile only lasted a moment as her hand returned to the hair at her temple, fisting the curls and giving them a slight tug. She muttered to herself as she stared at her hand in her hair, “it’s still not right…” Ares reached for her hand again, ready to stop her from yanking the entire chunk of hair from her scalp when she gasped, causing him to jump and then immediately roll his eyes as she lunged for the cabinet over the toilet. She rummaged for a moment and turned to him, brandishing a pair of clippers. 

He looked at her with shock plain on his face. “What the hell are you wantin’ to do with  _ those _ ?” 

She held them out to him, stoic determination written plainly across her face. “Ares, shave it off.” 

He held his hands up, instantly shaking his head in complete denial of her demand. “I am  _ not _ shavin’ your head, Persephone. If you want to shave it, that’s on you but I’m not balding you.” 

She rolled her eyes and shoved the clippers at him. “Not all of it, you knucklehead. Just…” She gave her head a slight shake as she looked at the clippers and then down at her hands. “Just where he pulled it.” Her voice was quiet but unwavering and Ares knew that if he didn’t help her she would find a way to do it herself. 

He sighed and turned the clippers over in his hand, feeling the weight of them as he looked at her. He beckoned her to him with a flick of his hand, looking down at her with his jaw set, still unsure of whether or not she would regret this. She stood still as he turned the clippers on and gently pressed them to her temple, dragging them back across her scalp to shear off a wide strip of her silky hair. Ares could see the tension leave her shoulders as she felt the cool air touch her scalp, so he pressed the clippers slightly lower and shaved off another strip of hair, over and over until the left side of her head was shaved almost completely to the skin. 

When Ares finally turned the clippers off and brushed the stray hairs from her head and shoulders, Persephone turned and looked in the mirror. Her hand instinctively went to her temple as if to grasp at her hair as she had done before, but her fingertips grazed the soft, short remnants of hair left behind by the clippers and she sighed. A tear slipped down her cheek as she stared, her fingers running back and forth over the freshly shaved side of her head. Her voice was faint, as if she were preserving the strength in it, talking more to herself than to Ares and she continued to stare at her reflection. “No one is ever going to grab me like that again, I swear it on my life.” 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal.
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.


	14. He’s afraid of you darlin’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains strong depictions of domestic abuse. Please read with caution.

Demeter stood at the end of the aisle, quietly watching as Persephone stared at the row of boxed cereals. Her gaze lingered on the bruises that Persephone no longer made any attempt to hide, leaving Demeter to wonder what had changed to inspire such confidence in the usually timid girl that she had watched over for the last 25 years. She sighed as she stared at the pink hair, cut short so that it hung around her chin in gentle curls that seemed to drift around her fine features. Persephone dropped a box into the cart and turned to the other side of the aisle, revealing the shaved side of her head to Demeter. Her eyes went wide as she stared at the shorn side of Persephone’s head, shock washing over her as she stared at the extreme change in Persephone’s appearance, her mind racing as it tried to process what had happened in the last week while she had been away handling her duties. 

Demeter couldn’t fathom what had made the girl do such an awful thing to herself, especially considering that she was sure that Aaron likely would not have been okay with Persephone doing something so drastic and noticeable. She narrowed her eyes and looked the girl up and down, as if staring at her would reveal whatever had happened in her life to make Persephone so reckless and bold, so uncaring about her appearance. Demeter had known for a long time that Aaron had caused a myriad of injuries, most of which left Persephone marked and angry, but Demeter had consoled herself with the thought that Aaron was the lesser of two evils. He kept a chain on Persephone, holding her down so that she couldn’t rise too high, so she couldn’t ascend to the level that her mother had. Augustine had been too close, she had been too involved with the Gods and it had ruined her - but perhaps, if Persephone never felt what her mother had, she could be spared that fate. Demeter knew it was cruel, she knew that the pain that Persephone struggled with, the pain that Aaron inflicted on her, was no small thing. But how could she allow Persephone to choose the other path, the path would lead to the same fate as Augustine?

Demeter’s eyes pricked with tears as she thought of Augustine. Memories came flooding back to her; of lying in a field of wildflowers as they laughed and talked, fingers twined together as they attempted to ignore the ticking clock of time, of the way that the moonlight shone on her pale skin, her smile illuminating the night in a way that made it easy for Demeter to forget that she had been a mere mortal woman; of the way that Augustine’s long, auburn hair had always smelled of wheat fields in the summer and her skin had been smooth like the petals of a flower. Demeter closed her eyes for a moment and sighed as her mind recalled the details of Augustine’s face, her features burned into her mind so that it was impossible to forget her beauty, even 25 years after her death. She sighed as she clung to the thought of Augustine’s lips on hers, the memory so vivid that she could almost feel the soft, velvet brush of their lips as they met at dusk on summer nights all those years ago. 

With a heavy breath, Demeter forced the thoughts from her mind and opened her eyes, returning her focus to the present - to Persephone. Demeter’s eyes narrowed as an impossibly tall blonde man wearing a leather biker’s kutte sauntered up to Persephone, hands in his pockets as he gave her a grin and a shrug. Persephone gave him a slight smile and turned back to her focus, bending down to survey the products in front of her so that Demeter had a good look at the man’s face. 

Demeter quickly recognized him as Ares - regardless of the mortal appearance he had assumed to hide his identity, she could see the celestial glow hovering around him, feeling his identity in an instant. Demeter’s eyes turned a fierce, unnatural shade of green, glowing as if crafted from uranium as rage overtook her senses, betraying the chestnut brown that she adopted to blend in with the mortals around her. Demeter could feel the panic rising in her chest as she took a sharp step forward, determined to separate Persephone from Ares and put a stop to whatever was going on.

As Demeter took another hard step forward, she felt a gloved hand close on her elbow and she was snapped out of her rage as a voice caught her attention. “Is that really a good idea?” Hecate’s voice slithered through the air, oily and sonorous, unable to fit quite right with the mortal skin that she had slipped into. 

Demeter looked sharply back at Hecate, her lips set in a thin line as she narrowed her eyes at the voice of reason that had materialized behind her. “What are you doing here?” 

Hecate raised a brow at her, the amber hue of her eyes flaring at Demeter’s tone. “I should be asking you the same question, Demeter. Why bother hovering around her?” Demeter shook her head, a look of regret and longing washing over her demure features. “I see you’ve chosen an inconspicuous form. How long have you been hiding behind a simple, mortal face in order to watch the girl?” Demeter sucked a breath in through her teeth, her brows furrowing into a frown of annoyance that brought a sly grin to Hecate’s face. “Are you going to refuse to answer all of my questions, then?”

“I already told you everything you need to know.” Demeter hissed the short sentence at her, her tone loathful and impatient. “I don’t see why it matters to you what I choose to do - be it here or in our realms.”

Hecate nodded, her eyes almost yellow as her patience grew thin. “You altered fate out of jealousy and anger, and you touched that girl in a way that should never have happened. And yet you _dare_ to take such an insolent tone with _me_?” 

Demeter’s face turned red as an angry flush bloomed across her skin, “What I did is none of your business Hecate, nor is  _ she _ .” Demeter gestured at Persephone, her eyes beginning to take on that same unnatural glow as before. 

Hecate couldn’t hide the rare burst of anger in her eyes, the color changing from the warm yellow of honey to the formidable glow of a harvest moon as she grabbed Demeter by the front of her jacket with her thin, gloved fingers. Her voice took on a hint of its natural form, echoing with an other-worldly depth that stunned Demeter and quickly reminded her of the true power of the goddess before her. “You cut one string before it was time, and you irreparably damaged another, Demeter. What you did to Augustine is grounds enough for punishment, but do you really think that  _ he _ is going to overlook you handing a mortal their own string of fate?” Demeter swallowed thickly, her mouth suddenly dry as she struggled to find a response that would quell the anger before her. “Did you really think that no one would find out what you have done?”

Demeter quickly collected herself, setting her jaw as she met Hecate’s furious gaze. “And what does the God of the Dead want with her? What does he care?” 

Hecate’s lips spread into a slick smile, the razor sharp line twisting to match the shallow curve of a scythe. “I would not worry so much about what he wants with the girl. _I have seen every path, Demeter_.” Hecate’s words settled at the top of Demeter’s consciousness, layering themselves over the surface of her thoughts like oil resting at the top of water. “There is no outcome that does not result in the King of the Underworld seeking retribution for your transgressions.” 

As easily as she had appeared, Hecate vanished as her prophecy hung in the air like a heavy fog. Demeter took a deep, shuddering breath as she smoothed the front of her jacket, trying to erase the wrinkled reminder of the Titan’s hands so close to her throat. Demeter glanced back at Persephone and then her eyes snapped to Ares, their gazes meeting in an icy exchange of silent warnings. Demeter stared at him venomously, warily taking in the way that Ares’ eyes tracked her every move, before she gave her jacket a final tug and briskly walked away from them, the clacking of her heels ringing in her ears like the signaling of a hasty retreat. 

… … … … … … … … … 

Persephone slammed the trunk of her car closed, not caring that the groceries inside were likely to roll out of their bags and make a mess in the empty space. There was something freeing, comforting in being able to just toss them in the trunk and forget about them, no longer bound by Aaron’s exceedingly high expectations and his unwavering insistence on the ‘right’ way to do things. She glanced up, her gaze immediately moving to Ares standing at the other end of the parking lot, his back to her as he talked into his cell phone. Persephone sighed and walked around the car, climbing into the drivers side and sitting with one foot hanging out of the door as she turned the key in the ignition and began fiddling with the radio. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back against the headrest as she listened to the soft song that filled the car and pulsed peacefully in her ears. The autumn breeze drifted easily around her, the chill clinging to her skin as she pulled her sweater closed over her chest. 

“Perse,” she jumped at the sound of Aaron’s voice, a sharp gasp escaped from her throat as her eyes flew open and her head whipped in his direction. He was leaning over her in the open car door, an uncomfortably sweet smile perched on his lips. “I just want to talk,  _ please _ .” The please was less a request and more a subtle warning, clearly communicating that he wasn’t leaving without saying whatever he was thinking. 

Persephone narrowed her eyes at him, the fear quickly turning into indignant annoyance at how closely he leaned into her car. “You need to leave, Aaron. I don’t want to talk.” 

He couldn’t hide the brief glint of anger that crossed his expression at her response, his smile faltering as he responded quietly. “I think you should talk to me, Persephone.” 

He reached out and grazed her cheek with his fingertips, causing her to instantly recoil and slap his hand away from her face. “ _ No, Aaron _ .” He reached to touch her again, but Persephone gave his hand a hard shove, effectively erasing the smile from his lips. 

He frowned at her, his face twisting to show a glimpse of the anger that she knew all too well and her stomach knotted with a surge of anxiety. “You don’t have to make this so fucking hard, just hear me out.” 

“Aaron,” she hissed his name with growing frustration and disdain, “I don’t  _ want _ to talk to you.” He opened his mouth to respond but she raised her voice and lifted her hand to stop him, “I don’t want anything to do with you,  _ just go _ .”

Aaron’s brows pulled tighter together, his jaw setting in a hard line as his hand shot towards Persephone and his fingers wrapped around her upper arm. “ _ You _ ,” he snarled at her, “do not get to tell me when to go.” He pulled her sharply from the car, tugging her by the arm and slamming her back against the car as he brought his face close to hers. “I said I want to talk, you owe me at least that much, don’t you think?” 

Persephone gave him a hard shove to the chest but he didn’t release his grip, his fingers dug into her flesh and sent sharp waves of pain through the muscle, making her scrunch her face up with a hard wince. “Aaron, stop it!” Her voice was loud, raised in fear and anger as he pressed her harder into the car and a dull pain radiated in waves through her spine. 

He caught her jaw in his grip and forced her gaze to his, his voice lowered to a dangerous growl of anger that she knew meant he was close to losing his self control. “You don’t get to decide when I’m going to talk to you, do you understand me?” She turned her head sharply, pulling her chin from his grip with a defiant glare but his hand quickly closed on her neck, pressing just hard enough to send a twinge of pain through her body and shorten her breath. “When I decide I’m going to talk, you sit and fucking listen to me.” 

White spots danced in her vision as she tried to remain focused on his face, desperately trying to avoid giving him even a moment of satisfaction. Her mind scrambled, trying to think clearly through the pain and the lack of oxygen as she tried to run through her options and find a way out of the situation she had been thrust into. She clawed at his hand, struggling to force him to loosen his grip so that she could get a full breath. 

She opened her mouth and sucked in a gasping breath, her thoughts settling on screaming being the most effective way out. His hand quickly clamped down on her mouth, silencing the sound of her breath as her eyes widened in rising panic, “I would suggest you think twice, Persephone, I’m not going to keep being so nice about this.” She tried to exhale against his hand, her breath trapped in her mouth as she stared into his caramel brown eyes, trying to gauge the level of severity of his anger. “Now,” he loosened his grip on her throat slightly, just enough that she could feel her cheeks flush with the sudden return of blood flow to her face, “are you going to knock your shit off and talk to me?” 

Persephone closed her eyes for a moment, steadying her nerves as her thoughts raced through the necessary steps to get out of his grasp and away from him. She looked back up at him, desperately hoping that her panic was well concealed in her green eyes, she nodded and gave a muffled affirmation against his hand, waiting for him to move so that she could breathe again. He pulled his hand slowly from her mouth and she immediately pulled a sharp gasp of air through her lips, her chest swelled with the sudden burst of fresh air and her head slowly stopped spinning as she forced herself to focus on Aaron. 

“You’ve had your fun,” Aaron said quietly, “it’s time to be done with this shit. Do you understand me?” His eyes searched hers, his menacing gaze eagerly looking for the crack in her newfound strength. She let out a slow sigh, her breath shuddering in her chest as she tried to decide how far she should bend to him, unwilling to agree but aware of what outright defiance would bring her. His gaze turned almost tender as he ran his thumb along her jaw and tilted his head as his eyes moved slowly over her battered face and settled on her lips, “You’re still so beautiful, do you know that? That’s why I won’t let you go.” He dragged his thumb over her bottom lip, pulling it away from her mouth as his thumb moved down her chin, “You’re  _ my girl _ , don’t ever forget that.” 

Persephone felt a wave of nausea wash over her at his words, the soft tone of his voice dripping from his mouth like honey - sickeningly sweet, coating her senses in a thick, sticky film that she couldn’t shake off. She closed her eyes and clenched her jaw, fighting the urge to be sick as his words rang in her ears. “Aaron,” she put all of her focus into keeping her voice steady, carefully trying to avoid setting him off with his hand around her throat, “please let go of me, I can’t talk to you like this.”

His fingers flexed at her throat as she tightened her grip on his wrist and looked at him imploringly. “I’m not stupid, Persephone. If I let you go, you’ll run.”

“Aaron, please, I won’t -”

His grip tightened viciously, she stiffened as pain radiated through her throat and her arm, both his hands clenching around her with bruising force. “I am  _ not _ letting you go.” She clutched at his wrist, trying to dig her short nails into his skin as she tilted her chin up in an attempt to open her airway enough to breath. Persephone felt the world around her start to spin as his grip tightened, his hand pressing harder into her throat as she tried to stand taller and arch away from him. 

Her breath came in a dizzying gasp as Aaron’s hands were harshly pulled away from her body, his fingers tightening around her as he tried to maintain his grip and leaving a burning sensation that spread slowly over her skin. Persephone collapsed to the ground as she tried to catch her breath, she looked up to see Ares shoving Aaron away from her, his voice somehow distant and muffled as his image came in and out of focus. Persephone balled her fists as she tried to gather her thoughts, but her mind was blank, panicked anxiety preventing coherent thoughts from forming. She tried to slow her racing heartbeat enough to think clearly but rational thought escaped her and instinct took over, she brought her fist to the ground once and raised it to strike again but was stopped by Ares’ hand on her wrist. 

“What are you doing?” His voice was suddenly close, comforting and warm as he knelt in front of her. 

She shook her head and tried to find the answer to his question. “I don’t even know,” she whispered as a tear slipped down her cheek. “He said he’d come if I needed help.” 

“Look at me.” His tone was strong, sharp without being harsh, and Persephone looked up in response to the gentle command. His silver eyes shone with intensity, boring into hers as he gently took her chin in his hand. “If you need help, if you  _ want _ help, then by all means ask for it. But,” he lowered his voice and brought his face slightly closer to hers, the intensity of his gaze drawing her in like a moth to a flame, “you don’t  _ need _ a man to fight your battles. You don’t need  _ anyone _ to protect you, Persephone. I  _ know _ you’re stronger than that -  _ I can feel it _ .” 

Persephone sighed as thoughts flooded her mind, his words resonated in her mind like an echo in a dark cave but she couldn’t quell the doubt that rose within her at his assessment. “I’m not, Ares.”

“You’re not what?”

She pulled her wrist free of his grip, her hand still tightly balled into a fist, and she pressed her eyes closed against the scrutiny of his gaze. “I’m not strong.” She lowered her chin, dropping it from his gentle grip to look at her lap as she muttered into the autumn breeze that enveloped them in a telling chill. “I’m so pathetic and weak, I can’t even stand up to him. I should have immediately started screaming, I should have fought harder, I should have done  _ anything _ to stop him. Instead, I let him touch me -  _ again _ \- and you had to come rescue me. That isn’t strong, Ares. It’s incredibly fucking weak.”

Ares sighed and looked at the ground for a moment before he gently tilted her face to his gaze again, his eyes moved from her bright green stare to the deep blue and black bruise on her cheek. He ran the back of his forefinger lightly down her cheek, tracing the cut down the middle of the bruise with a feather-light touch so as not to hurt her, the corner of his mouth twitching upwards in a hint of his crooked grin. “You are not weak because of what he did,” his words were quiet but spoken with a tone that she couldn’t ignore, he held her attention easily as he spoke from what felt like a place of knowledge deep within him. “Any man who chooses to treat his woman -  _ any _ woman - like that is a fucking coward. He does it because he’s scared and weak.” Persephone sat as if made of stone, listening to his quiet words while gnawing on her bottom lip as she considered what he was saying to her. “What he just did - him coming here and trying to scare you like that - was out of fear. He sees that you’re done with his shit, that he’s losing control, and he’s lashing out to try to get that back. He’s afraid of you darlin’, he knows that you have the power to ruin him.” 

Ares tapped her chin affectionately, shooting her his lopsided grin as he stood up and pulled a pack of cigarettes and lighter from his pocket. He slipped one between his lips and lit it quickly, taking a deep inhale as he looked down at her. “If you want to call him, I won’t stop you. But,” he shrugged as the long stream of smoke left his mouth, “you don’t need him.”

Persephone bit hard on her bottom lip as she stared at her clenched fist, still poised to strike the earth one more time in an ancient call for Hades. 

… … … … … … … … … 

Hades hummed against Minthe’s lips as she ran her fingers through his hair, her nails dragging along his scalp slowly and deliberately. She pressed her body against his, her slim figure flush against his muscular body as she moved her hips seductively against his groin, losing herself in the sensations that fluttered through her as the movement allowed Hades’ swollen member deeper inside of her. She pulled her lips from his and let her head fall back, a soft sigh of pleasure escaping her lips as Hades’ teeth nipped gently at her collarbone, he dragged his tongue up her neck softly and pressed his lips to the curve of her jaw as his hands moved up her black, lace jumper and wrapped around her back to grip her by the shoulders, pulling her body impossibly closer to him. She rolled her hips, pressing her lace covered breasts against his chest as she moved around him, lifting herself slightly in his lap and then lowering herself back down along his length. Hades groaned against her neck, his muscles tensing as she worked herself against him, her breath coming in sharp pants as the motion sent jolts of pleasure through her stomach. 

His hand slid down her body, reaching between them to pull the lace further to the side as his fingers sought out the tight nodule of pleasure at the top of her warm entrance, she was slick with desire and Hades’ eyes darkened as he leaned back slightly to look at her. He had always been attracted to Minthe, a fact that she knew and had used to get back in his bed on more than one occasion. He circled the bud of pleasure and watched as her body shivered and her lips fell open, a tantalizing moan filled the air around them as she responded to his careful touch. His fingers worked slowly, expertly making small circles that he knew would drive her closer and closer to the edge of her pleasure as she moved herself against his body, her lace jumper brushing against his skin as she panted in pleasure, the sensation adding to the mounting pleasure deep in his stomach. Her hands moved from his hair, clutching at the back of his neck and his shoulder as her body tightened around him. She pulled herself against him, pressing her chest to his, clinging to him in an attempt to steady herself as she shivered with the growing intensity of pleasure. 

Hades sucked a hiss of breath through his teeth and his body instinctively stiffened as he felt the familiar sting of pain in his chest, the same stinging pain that he had felt just before Persephone tapped the ground each time she called for him. He kept his body deathly still, focusing intently on the feel of the Underworld, determined to hear even the faintest tap on the earth. 

Minthe let out a small, frustrated whimper as she leaned back and looked at him, “Hades?” His eyes were far off and glassy, focused on something beyond the walls of his home that Minthe couldn’t see. “Hades, what is it? Why did you stop?”

He shushed her quickly, holding a hand up as she raised a sharp brow and pinched her lips in annoyance. He sat quietly, still sheathed in Minthe’s warm center, listening to the deep silence of the Underworld as he prayed that he would hear the echoing  _ tap-tap _ from her delicate hand. Minthe opened her mouth to speak but Hades shushed her again as soon as a sound left her lips. 

He saw the jealous annoyance that flashed across her features from the corner of his eye, but she quickly masked it with a seductive pout of her lips as she rolled her hips again, trying to distract him with the nearly overwhelming sensation that ricocheted through him as she moved her body against his. He groaned slightly but immediately gripped Minthe’s hips and lifted her off of him, depositing her gruffly on the bed beside him as he maintained his focus on the swirling darkness of the Underworld, searching for any hint of her summoning him, for any hint that she wanted him, that she  _ needed _ him. He heard one tap, faint among the sounds of his realm, but making itself known to him as he felt the gentle tug at the core of his being.

“Hades, what the fuck -”

“Be still,” he growled at her as he closed his eyes to focus on sounds echoing through the netherworld. 

**Author's Note:**

> If you or anyone you know is being abused in any way please reach out. There are so many resources out there that can help and so many people who will support you and love you as you heal.
> 
> If you simply need someone to discuss this work or anything it makes you think or feel, PLEASE reach out to me. Concerns, thoughts, feelings, anything it could be. I love my readers and I'm aware that my work can be triggering. Please reach out to me if you are not okay, I can be found here or on discord with the same handle.


End file.
